Sarah's Crystal Ball

Yeah, I took the weekend off -- didn't even record all the "Good Things Out There" that I came across last week. So sue me. OR feel free to tell me your vote for any "Good Things Out There" in the comments and I'll do one a day late (or next week -- or sometime)!

I have only (that I can remember) gone out on a limb with a prediction one time on the ol' bloggity... and it didn't quite end up like I thought...

But, since I don't mind being wrong on some things (just don't let me miss heaven!) I have a couple of predictions rolling around in my head to share with you guys. Feel free to agree, disagree, or debate. Whatever suits your fancy.

First, I think that America will take only one, POSSIBLY two, more seasons of Kate Gosselin verbally abusing Jon. The day of 'Jon and Kate Plus Eight' is in its sunset. I hope they are enjoying the new house, the appliance sponsorships, and the elaborate vacations that we get to hear her screech her way through. Obviously, it is watched at my house. Ashley is IN LOVE with all of the little guys and doesn't mind hearing Kate screech to watch them. She makes my teeth itch.

My next prediction I am fairly certain of (the first one I'm just HOPEFUL for!):

After a brief perusal through Target's junior section where shorts and swimsuits are out while I wear my fleece, I expect to see a LOT of hiney cheeks hanging out of shorts this summer. To which, I already say, "Ew. Put those things away...." I guess now that pants and shorts are being made higher so as to not expose hiney cracks, they had to be made shorter so that some portion of the hiney could be seen at all times. Bless.

What about you? Noticing a trend? What do you think is coming down the road? I would love to hear it!

Book Review: An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination

Earlier this week I mentioned that by reading and reading lots I am happening across some really good writing. This book is an example of that. I wouldn't be surprised to learn, however, that this particular book is writing on a different plane than any of her other work, though this is the only book of hers I've read. I say that because it's a book from the depths of her grief, from a different place in her soul than she would use to write the fiction she usually writes.

This book is a memoir of her having a stillborn baby, then one year later a healthy baby. It's more the story of walking through the grief of losing the baby, and finding a way to keep breathing beyond that. As odd as it sounds, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and truly think that anyone who has lost a child, particularly a baby, would find comfort in this book.

Sunday Phil spoke on 2 Corinthians 1:3-7:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Or, as one man summed up: God doesn't comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.

I think that's what this book does (though she very openly admits she has no use for religion or God) -- I would imagine that it would be comforting to hear someone tell a story so beautifully of what it is like. She wrote some things that I thought (from the vantage point of never miscarrying, never losing a child): "Yes, I would imagine I might feel that way..."

The thing she wrote that touched me the most was: "This is the happiest story in the world with the saddest ending." She meant her life with her husband, and her pregnancy, what wonderful times they were. She wrote that to herself days after her baby died, because she didn't want to forget the beautiful times that came to such an ugly end.

Beautifully written, very oddly hopeful, even with the sad topic, and a reminder never to assume anything about your future. A quick, long afternoon read. I highly recommend it.

Updated: I've had two people who have lost children under similar circumstances ask me if they should read the book. Honestly, I had those people in mind as I read it and wrote this review. Absolutely, I would IMAGINE (having not walked that road) that it would be valuable to hear another's view point on that. HOWEVER, it would definitely pick and poke at that wound in your soul. If you're still raw or struggling to heal, it may be too much. But if you're still struggling to heal, (don't hear me saying 'get over' -- I know you won't and no one is expecting you to) I THINK it would help to read this and put into words what it may be like. In short, I think you should give it a try. If it's too much, put it down and consider a different time in your life for it.

Is Your Name on the Roll?

To my tens of readers, far and wide, that don't live in my little dusty corner of the globe, please pardon me while I do a little local housekeeping.

The church where I worship is creating a blog roll in order to promote community among members. There are many members that I don't see on a regular basis, but I can read their blog and know that they have been plagued with the flu, or are celebrating a first tooth loss, or anything else that may connect me with them.

For some reason, when I went to the meeting about this and was the only person in the room not on the church's payroll, I ended up in charge of gathering those names and blogs. Hmmmmm.... what is wrong with this picture? (absolutely nothing, say the people from the meeting)

So, to my readers that worship at SoHills, please do two things: leave a comment if you would like your blog included. I'll need the blog address, your name, and a brief, one sentence description of your blog ("Family happenings" or "My life at the end of a fishing pole" or "My thoughts about today" Whatever --don't sweat that part). Then, please continue to spread the word to our fellow SoHills bloggers. I will only accept a person's submission of their own blog due to privacy issues. You can tell your buddy about it, but don't sign up for him/ her.

Also, please remember that we are looking to include blogs that reflect and embrace our front porch vision of inviting, including, and involving others. Basically, "What Would Jesus Blog" type thought process if you wish to be included in our blog (which may be way over the top, because I doubt that Jesus would spend most of one blog post complaining about a flat tire, but you get the idea...)

Hope to see your name on the roll!

Tuesday became Monday

I think it was when we had MLK day back in January that someone commented that the rest of the week seems to want to pay us back for missing a day. Indeed, yesterday felt that way! I had a pretty tight schedule, but I was packed and ready to go. I was not, however, prepared to walk out of the gym and find this:

Bummer. Not in my schedule.

Y'all, I can change a tire. As a matter of fact, I changed a friend's tire in college after chapel, causing quite a stir by the chivalry-wanna-be's walking by: "Uh.... y'all need any help?" "Nope. Got it." "Ooooh-kay..." But that was when I drove a cute little compact thing, spare and jack neatly under the mat in the hatch. In this instance, I did what any other woman on the planet would do: I called my husband on the brink of tears.

He very wisely told me I was going to have to move it from the incline it was on to change the tire. Oh, right. Check. But I'm here to tell you, if it were up to me to figure out how to get the spare out from under an SUV, I would still be there. In tears. Thankfully, I had not, as I have threatened to do on more than one occasion, thrown our fancy-schmancy hydraulic jack that weighs approximately 142 pounds out on the side of the road after shuffling it hither and yon inside the car trying to put groceries in there. Did you know that the jack that comes on a 2000 Ford Expedition (yes, my car is older than all of you, I know, but IT. IS. ALL. MINE!!) will not actually jack it up? Hence the fancy-schmancy hydraulic jack that weighs approximately 142 pounds.

So bless that sweet man, he drove all the way across town (yes, all 15 minutes for you D/FW readers -- it's a LONG way here, okay?) changed my tire. It took both of us and our college degrees to figure out our fancy-schmancy hydraulic jack that weighs approximately 142 pounds, as well as the spare-removal deal.

Spare, of course, had about 12 pounds of pressure in it. Went to the nearest 7-11 to put air in. Fed the air machine $.75, in quarters, per instructions. Nada. Limped along to my tire place. Tire place fixed my tire (nail) and filled my spare and switched them both out.

Boom. Done. About 1.5 hours later, I was on my way. I completely missed my haircut. The forecast is ponytails for the rest of the week.

So, I went on my way. I made my Meals on Wheels run, and spending just a few extra minutes with one of my folks absolutely blessed my socks off.

Got home and had a few minutes before getting Ashley to the orthodontist. I had email after email that, in short, let me know that God heard. Yesterday, as I fretted and worried, God heard. Last week, when I poured out my heart, God heard. Months ago, when I dared to dream big, God heard. And yesterday I was reminded of all the ways that God heard. He didn't magically fix everything -- and certainly there was an ultra-flat tire in my day -- but he heard.

And I was reminded again of this day ordained for me. A day of not-much special, full of God and His work. A day of irritations and surprises, God in it all.

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;

Psalm 34:15-19

And can I get an Amen on that?

How Do They Know?

Originally in Abilene Families

What sound waves are unique to a home bathroom door? Something about the closing of your own bathroom door cues everyone in your life to the precise moment you shut it. Sound waves must be it! How else would they all know to ring the phone or doorbell? And the kids? They have some kind of inner sensor that alerts them that you have shut the bathroom door. It is the same sensor that tells them to go ballistic as soon as your ear is pressed to a phone, and closely related to the magnetic waves that cause a major appliance to break down or overflow when you are expecting company or out of money (or both).

My kids are old enough to get dressed, cook a meal, and operate a dishwasher or washing machine without me (they have the capability... don’t hear me saying they use it). But STILL, the moment the bathroom door is shut I hear it, "Mom? Where are you?"

My home was one of hundreds in Abilene damaged in the floods in 2002. For a few months we lived out of our home, then returned to a home under construction. For a brief time, we only had one toilet in the home, and for a day or two, there was a hole in that bathroom that led to hall. A little mini-window into the private inner plumbing of my home giving anyone – construction worker or family – a clear view into the bathroom from the hallway.

Finally the cabinetry that would close the hole was installed and I had a private restroom in my home again! So, as soon as I closed the bathroom door to celebrate the return of indoor, private facilities, I could hear my then-4-year-old. He had been outside playing, but of course his sensor let him know that I was in the bathroom, and probably needed company. I could hear him at the front door: “Mom?” And walking through the living room: “Mooooom?” And down the hall: “Mom? Where are you?” Finally, he spotted the closed bathroom door.

I could tell by the sound that his next shout had his precious little lips pressed right into the crack between door and door jamb. “Mom?”

“What, sweetie?”

“Why did the turkey cross the playground?”

Oh, yes, of course. A turkey and playground joke. That is precisely what was missing from this experience. However, the humor of the moment was not lost on me while I washed my hands, and curiosity won out.

“I don’t know... why did the turkey cross the playground?”

“To get to the other SLIDE!” he exclaimed just as I was opening the door.

My reward for FINALLY opening the door was the beaming freckled face of a child so pleased with himself he seemed to have grown a couple of inches. I even had to stop and wonder how I could possibly part with that precious face for the 2.7 minutes I must have had the door closed. I'm still trying to figure out where that sensor is, though.

(A photo of Riley from that approximate time. Thankfully, he wasn't holding a fish when I opened the door, but how could you not be thrilled to see that face?)

Reading to Write

I was going to say THE most helpful thing to me in trying my hand at this writing business has been.... But then I thought of 2 other things that have also been incredibly helpful, so let me just call this one definitely in the top 5:

Being given permission to read a lot.

Actually, I heard MANY times before this that a good writer reads a lot. Period. But I wasn't reading and thought I could get by without it -- my life is busy, I'm running a home (and carpool), have 2 active kids to keep up with, involved in my church... yada, yada. Then Tammy recommended Stephen King's book about writing to me:

She warned me that it's a bit rough around the edges in places. If you've read any Stephen King this won't surprise you. I still haven't finished it because I keep getting stuck in the valuable mid-section of the book where he talks about your "writer's toolbox". That's the basics like vocabulary and grammar, but when he goes into the specifics of writing, he starts with reading.

He starts that section with: "If you want to be a great writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut."

He goes on to say that good writing can be instructionary, and bad writing is golden -- "worth a semester at a good writing school, even with the superstar guest lecturers thrown in." (King is NOT a fan of "Bridges of Madison County", I can tell you...)

About good writing: "You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you."

Later he says: "If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that." (ouch...)

He has a great few paragraphs about what, exactly, you're missing if you turn the TV off to do your reading -- love when he refers to it as "the glass teat".

He wraps up this section by saying: "If you feel you need permission to do all the reading and writing your little heart desires, however, consider it hereby granted by yours truly."

So. Stephen King himself granted me permission to read and write to my heart's content. Truly, it has changed my life! As a human AND as a writer. He's SO right about learning by being swept away from others' writing. And I have been blessed to be swept away by the force of some writing lately. One was in "The Year of Fog". The other, I'll write about later this week. And, I have learned that while Kate Gosselin is an amazing baby-making machine, she is no writer. Her friend, Beth Carson, is a writer... and got a sweet book deal because TLC already gave her a ready-made 'platform'. Literary genius it isn't...

I, in turn, give you permission, writer or no, to read to your heart's content. I am on the verge of giving you instructions to turn off the TV so that you can. Of course Denise watches TV with every light in the house on, so she does both at the same time. Whatever. Reading's good, and there is some good stuff out there, and there is some trash out there. May you spend more time with the former.

Good Things Out There

Y'all, I have sewing room envy. Didn't this Sarah make it the cutest thing ever?

Amanda makes me miss having a 5 year old son. All I get now is, "Mom, you're so weird..."

You KNOW I love words. But Donna Hester knows how to put them together. This woman is a genius. Maybe someday I will grow up and put together words as beautifully as Donna did in "Words". A must read....

And that Beth... she's always sayin' it right. Beautiful post about marriage and the God that ordained it.

I think Troy thinks this is what I do every night:


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Considering Valentine's Day

originally published in Abilene Families

also in heartlight this week

My family experienced some minor medical drama the week between Christmas and New Year's while traveling out of state. On one of my many trips to the drug store I had to stop dead in my tracks. I was perusing the Christmas decorations and wrapping paper on clearance. I turned around to look for more, and was faced with a shelf full of boxes of Valentine's cards that children will use to declare love for classmates. Before the confetti of the New Year’s holiday is swept up, the shelves in stores are fully stocked with hearts, balloons, and all manner of Valentine props and paraphernalia. Maybe it’s age, maybe it’s motherhood, maybe it’s global warming, but I don’t think of Valentine’s Day the same way that I did as a young, single woman or newlywed. Valentine’s Day is a fun, light-hearted opportunity to lavish love on those around you, but life has shown me that love rarely looks like the front of a Hallmark card.

Love is not running along a beach hand in hand. Love holds the flashlight in the middle of the night, make-up long gone and tempers flaring, holding your tongue while your sweetie attempts an emergency home repair. Love isn’t demonstrated by dewy eyes across a candlelit meal, but rather by one more run to the doctor or pharmacy when you are exhausted beyond reasonable or rational thought. Valentine's Day lends itself to romance. Romance is wonderful and exciting but won't take you very far when the stomach bug hits, or your Love Shack floods, or one of your parents is critically ill and/or dies. Romance will not be found in any of those situations, but love is there larger than life. Love brings the cool wash cloth again and again for the stomach bug, and mops and covertly repairs damaged keepsakes during the flood, and cries and holds and works and loves with an ill family member.

Love is not rose petals and champagne, but aching backs and work gloves. Love at my house never dances in an evening gown or tuxedo, but love supplies the elbow grease, the patience, the encouragement, and the clean clothes to face each day and, Lord willin’, a comforting place to come home to when the day seems to come out on top. Love is holding tight when no words will fix it, and tears the only language uttered.

Love is not a polished, glimmery state. Love is messy, inconvenient, and frustrating. Love is giving up the last ounce of energy, sleep, time, or chocolate for the well-being of another. Love isn’t found in romantic restaurants or destinations, but in hospital waiting rooms, the lobby of funeral homes, and kneeling in prayer next to race-car or princess beds in the middle of the night. Love is less about flowers and cartoon hearts, and everything about the value of another soul on this planet. I guess that’s a little harder to put on the side of a coffee mug.

I will play along this Valentine’s Day, like all the others, and I certainly hope for you to feel cherished on that day. But later in the year when the toilet overflows while the drama at school comes to a boiling point and work causes too many demands to keep everyone civil, love will be there with a plunger, Kleenex for the tears, and hugs, pats, and kisses for all the things the plunger and Kleenex won’t fix. Consider that your own Valentine’s Day – but don’t look for Hallmark to make a card for it anytime soon.

To my Valentine: Thank you for showing me what love looks like wearing work gloves. It is you. I thank the Lord for you every day -- usually as I'm putting my icicle toes on your feet... :-)

Book Review: Izzy and Lenore

When I go to the library, I always like to check out the 'new release' section for something that I may not have heard about but that looks appealing. And what isn't appealing about that precious little lab puppy staring at me? The sub-title reads: "Two dogs, an unexpected journey, and me" So I checked it out and joined Izzy and Lenore on their journey. Oh, Ashley is the one that cracked up that some guy named 'Katz' (pronounced 'cats', of course) was writing about dogs. It never crossed my mind...

Izzy is a border collie that Jon rescued and he was a MESS when Jon got him. Pretty soon, though, Jon went to go get trained to be a hospice volunteer and took Izzy with him. Some of the book is about their work as hospice volunteers. It is VERY touching to hear him tell the story of Izzy instinctively relating with people in their last moments of life. I can't remember now how Jon ended up with Lenore, a lab puppy. (Our Duchess is a lab -- sweetest dogs on the planet...!) Shortly thereafter, Jon realized that not only was he "not himself" he was in the depths of a deep depression. So some of the book is how Lenore was a precious companion to him through his journey through depression.

I think it's a great book, but I am an unashamed dog lover. Katz frequently says, "I know you can't assign human emotionsn to dogs..." and then go on to illustrate some action of either of the dogs that may contradict that. He doesn't think of them as people, but his love for them is evident.

Gotta give it a thumbs up. Check it out.

Makin' Memories

Yesterday, as most Wednesdays, I spent the latter part of school hours at Riley's school doing volunteer work and we walked home from school together at 3. He really wanted to go to Sonic (Happy Hour! 2-4!) but there were a bajillion things that needed to happen in the next few minutes. We had to get his room squared away so the window guy could see what the problem is/was, I let the window guy in and had to go run middle school carpool. Got back, visited with window guy about the problem and when he would be back to fix it while Ashley answered my phone and took a message. Seriously, just your usual after-school goin's on.

Window guy left. I was a little hungry and walked to the kitchen to pull out some yogurt for a snack while Ashley was starting on her homework.

It hit me. Turned, and the clock read: 3:54. I called an audible: "Kids! Hurry! In the car! Let's go to Sonic!"

We looked like the 3 stooges. "Not the dog!" "Don't worry about shoes!" "Which door are we going out?" "Keys! Throw me the keys!"

We screeched into our new Sonic at 3:59, got some slushes for happy hour, and enjoyed our victory. Sometimes ya just gotta live on the edge... :-) Happy Thursday!

Are You Listening?

A few days ago when I posted over here at Praise Baby blog, Pamela commented that her granddaughter also knew that song. Pamela continued, "She talks of Jesus being in her heart and will even lean her head down to her chest to talk to him. (She is now three.)"

Y'all, is that the absolute sweetest thing you have ever heard? Can you see it? A cherubic little toddler head leaning towards her chest to visit with Jesus who lives in her heart. I so love that image!

Do you really believe that Jesus is there? Do you understand that he truly is that close that you can lean your head down (actually, you don't even have to do that if you're well beyond toddler years and have neck issues like, maybe, the blog-writer) and visit with your Jesus? Do you believe, like that precious punkin', that he is in there, AND ... he's CRAZY about you?

I shall give that a shot today... and hopefully for the rest of my life. May I come to remember and believe that Jesus lives in my heart, and I only have to start visiting with him for him to listen to me. And... if I'm really, really, listening, I'll be able to hear what he says back.

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16

Girl About the Blogosphere!

And today... I am HERE! or more specifically here.

Sing it with me, "Get around, 'round, 'round, I get around (yeah)..."

And I mean that in the purest sense possible, with an additional bonus of a nod to my husband's love of all things Beach Boys.

So, go poke around the internet, see where all I've been this week. 'Cause tomorrow? I am so HERE (as in here, here -- The Cleft of the Rock here!!) And you won't want to miss it.

Come Visit Me!

I'm visiting around today.

I was able to tell one of my favorite stories of Ashley's toddler days here.

Come see me!

BLOG-o-RAMA!!

Do you use a blog-reader? There are many you can choose from. I have used bloglines.com in the past, but it frequently seemed to have issues. Like Stickers, if you will. So I switched over to Google Reader and it has been glorious. If you don't know or use a blog reader, you can also use the Feedblitz 'follow this blog' subscription on my blog page.

I currently subscribe to 84 blogs. I say 'currently' because I just culled my list by about 15-20. I assure you that if you are here reading, I didn't cull you! I culled folks who don't know I'm alive, but have excellent things to say -- that I don't have time to read. I did cull one or two soccer moms that consistently blog in gangsta, but they don't know I'm alive, either, so I doubt their feelings are hurt. I cut out one blog from my writing list that is an agent whose posts consistently say, in so many words, "I just have to tell so many people 'no'." "There are so many good writers out there, but that one great writer is so hard to find." "You'll never make it in this business, you know." She isn't good for my psyche!

And, after much 'marking as read' things that I haven't actually read (which bugs me to no end!), I am down to 194 unread blog posts from 682 earlier today. And you wonder why I never call...

I subscribe to running blogs, writing blogs, mom blogs, preacher-dude blogs, and friends' blogs (I would love to include family in there, but my family just doesn't do such...). It's a lot. It's educational, and it can even be community. But I think I am definitely on information overload.

Math Logic

My mother was a math professor for lots-o-years. I started college as a math major. I basically get math. I do NOT believe, as many people would have you believe, that there is a math gene that you either have or don't that allows you to do math (I do believe in a spelling gene, but that is a different story...) I do, however, believe some people's brains are more logic-oriented than others, allowing math to come a little easier to some than others. The following illustrations prove that even though math may not come easily to you, that doesn't mean you are stupid. Some of these folks are just down-right clever. And I hope their teacher's have a good sense of humor. Peter's teacher does not, evidently...

Book Review: The Year of Fog

Wow.

I don't have much else to say about "The Year of Fog" other than "Wow!"

From the Booklist review on Amazon.com:

Richmond's sophomore effort (after Dream of the Blue Room, 2003) traces a
traumatic year in the life of photographer Abby Mason after she loses her
fiance's six-year-old daughter. The moment Abby stopped to photograph a dead
baby seal while walking on a fog-bound beach in San Francisco is one she will
replay in her head a thousand times. That's the last time she saw Emma, who was
racing ahead, eager to collect sand dollars. Panic and fear soon give way to
sheer exhaustion and emotional shutdown as Abby and Emma's dad, Jake, immerse themselves in the desperate search for the missing first-grader. The trauma and the guilt wreak havoc with their relationship and with their struggle to regain a sense of normalcy. Richmond gracefully explores the nature of memory and perception in key passages that never slow the suspense of the search. This is a page-turner with a philosophical bent.

I can't sum it up any better. Obviously, it's a difficult subject, but I could NOT put it down. There is suspense, deep thinking, and relationship angst. What more can you want?

And as a writer... Amazing. Maybe someday I'll learn to write like that. Very well written.

I have books all over the house. Bedside, couch, breakfast table, and of course I keep one in the car for unexpected waiting times. I am usually in the middle of a minimum of three books at a time. This one... had to become my every-place book and life had to be on hold until I finished. It totally pulled me in from the 4th page.

You won't be sorry!

"But I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me. I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me." Hosea 13:4-6

Is that the most heartbreaking statement/ scripture?
And am I not guilty of the SAME exact thing -- on an almost daily basis?

May my satisfaction in this blessed life never lead me to forget my God -- or be ungrateful for all the blessings in my path.

Y'all, Stickers has Issues...

For the 8-ish months Stickers the hedgehog has lived in our home, her little cage set-up has been the same: igloo (for burrowing/ sleeping) to the left by her water, food bowl in the middle, and wheel to the right.

Ashley, being female, felt the need to 'rearrange' this week when we changed out Stickers' bedding. She didn't go too crazy, just switched the wheel and the igloo. Stickers couldn't do it. She either couldn't FIND her igloo or just couldn't bring herself to sleep there. So she ran in her wheel ALL day yesterday, taking intermittent naps NEXT to the wheel, like so:Keep in mind that hedgehogs are nocturnal and not supposed to do much of anything all day. Today, when she was still running and napping, I was afraid what sort of brouhaha would result from a sleep-deprived hedgehog and just moved her igloo and stuck it over her.

I would like to imagine that I am the only person on the planet that has a hedgehog with autistic tendencies. Bless.

Would You Like Cheese Fries or Tator Tots With That?

Had a very funny experience today that highlighted what a made-to-order society we have become. I'm creating business cards (made-to-order, of course) and took a little informal survey of a few folks about placement of a graphic on the card, since anyone breathing has a better eye for graphics than I do.

I sent out two jpegs and said, "Which do you like better, #1 or #2?"

I think I asked maybe a dozen folks, far and wide. About 50% of those surveyed (I just wanted to say that to sound official) actually responded with something that went, "I like #(whatever) for this reason..." The other 50%? Oy... they sounded like Sally on "When Harry Met Sally"!

I got:

• I like #1, but could you move the graphic to the left?
• I like #1, but could you move the graphic to the right?
• That font size needs to be bigger.
• That phrase is stupid.
• You shouldn't have that information on there.

Totally cracked me up AND let me realize I evidently have an opinion about it. So, I went with what I liked in the first place and that was that. And, yes, I will take some tator tots with my made-to-order business cards!

Randomness

Just a precious few minutes before I try to get ready for tomorrow.

So, I mentioned -- man, maybe a year ago -- that I see the day of the blog waning. Now more than ever. Maybe it's just among folks I know, but it seems blogging has gone one of two directions: folks who are really good at it and are faithful have a ginormous readership and continue to blog and even make a few bucks at it. The other 4 bajillion of us have developed an enormous network of folks we need to keep up with, so far-reaching is the internet, so we have resorted to 140-character soundbites on Twitter and Facebook. Maybe it's just me.

Today, in driving all over creation trying to get a clarinet repaired (which still isn't), Ashley and I were figuring how long we had to save up for a better clarinet before high school. 18 months!!! 18 months until my little punkin' curly-haired toddler gets thrown to the wolves in high school! That completely freaked me out and I'm still not over it.

We had a terribly busy weekend with Riley's spelling bee and Ashley's basketball tournament. No one came out all the way on top of the event, but I was reminded yet again what a joy it is to watch my children use their gifts. So very fun.

And the Super Bowl? Yes, went to a party, where we all learned again that the commercials aren't family friendly. That is so annoying. Loved seeing Bruce Springsteen who looks amazing. Kudos to his plastic surgeon.

Is anyone still thinking about any of their New Year's Resolutions? I guess I have 3 total. The main two are:
-- be in God's word EVERY day and
-- write at least 100 words EVERY day (now I've altered it to be towards 1 particular project).

I am very happy to report that I am doing very well at those two things. I guess that means I've written over 3,200 words this year! (Okay, I have to confess that I read that Stephen King doesn't call it a full work day until he's written 2,000 -- but I'm not quite there yet!) I also have to confess that I did miss one day of being in God's word, but I won't let that stop me. And I literally would have gotten out of bed to do it, but I realized at midnight after a ridiculously busy day that I slept too late to start my day with it. I'm letting that be okay and a reminder of God's grace that I could start over on January 24! And I did...!

Anyone else still have a resolution going?

Going Viral!

As I have shown time and time and time again, we have some creative geniuses (geni?) at the church where I worship.I thought I had posted this one here, but I evidently have not. And, since it has 'gone viral' (that's evidently a good thing on youtube -- who knew?), you have probably received it in your inbox at some point in time.

Well, the super-cool thing is that the story behind it is 'going viral', as well! Woo-hoo! Some big-wig NBC guys were out here this week, and this is the result of THAT:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Preacher Phil did marvel a bit that they call our 1,800 member church 'small'. Me, too. It's not small to me! I think that it is very cool how God is using these guys, all of them.

And, if you didn't know, Rob -- the guy using the stethoscope, but not interviewed here -- is husband to my friend Tammy from Coffee Group. He's our drama dude at church -- you can see why! I love what Stephen (our communications/ video guy) said about Jesus using parables, and this is just a parable on video.

Monday

First: BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was 80* Friday. Currently 34*. No wonder we never get used to the cold here!

Had a girls' night out at Journey's Inn Bed and Breakfast. What a wonderful place. If you need a place to stay while in Abilene, or just would like a romantic 'staycation' with your hubs, that would be a great place to go! Check them out! We watched movies and played Apples to Apples which was definitely fun, but I think made all the more fun by my exhausted state of delirium. That comes a LOT earlier in the evening than it used to...

Susan -- co-owner of Journey's Inn -- has such a delightful way of looking at life. And it is SO different than the way I look at life. She mentioned recently what 'color' a day had been. Must be the artist in her...! I love that she is going to keep a record of the colors of days for a while. Beautiful!

Ashley also had a basketball tourney this weekend. I shall state this under a spiritual guise so it doesn't sound TOTALLY like bragging on my kid, but God has given that girl a gift! Oh, what joy to watch her play, delighting in using her gift! Made me wonder how God must feel when we take delight in using the gifts He has blessed us with. It also convicted me about being more purposeful about USING my gifts, instead of letting the control of the calendar rob me of that ability. Falcons played HARD for 3 games (Ashley missed the middle game -- taking the SAT) and came in 2nd in the tourney. The last game was a tough one to lose (I guess they all are...) Never fear! More basketball is on the way! Game Thursday, then ANOTHER tourney Friday and Saturday. Yay! More using of the gift! :-) And, Riley will be using his gift on Friday, as well. Austin's Spelling Bee is coming up! Spelling is definitely a gift of Riley's, and I'm excited to see him in the Bee! Very exciting weekend!

Our church is trying to transition into having 'groups' ministry: small groups to insure the care and inclusion of all members. We are a large church, and the elders are trying to see to it that no one falls through the cracks. Groups are also meant to be a family-focused time -- no 'youth group' during groups time. This has some people all in a tizzy, which kind of makes me crazy. We have a new youth minister, Ricky Pruitt. I love what he said to a group of us in class yesterday, "Your kids will look like you, not me, spiritually." Absolutely. And eeek, to boot. Just makes me wonder: of those folks that are all in a tizzy about missing that 1 hour of youth group time for their kids, how much are they worried about the other 167 hours in a week? As for me and my family -- well, yes, we shall serve the Lord, but also? We don't need one more hoop to jump through and place to show up for the kids to be entertained. I absolutely agree that having a small group of church family is imperative to spiritual survival these days. Maybe I'll write a book about that someday...

May you all have a yellow day with shades of pink and blue dabbled in!

Survey

What to do?

I have a headache. It's not CRIPPLING, but it's not pleasant, either. (If you are experiencing a pleasant headache, you may have bigger problems than your headache). I haven't exercised yet and would like to, as soon as I can shake this headache. I need to do some writing, but thinking for the right word kind of hurts, too.

Short of lying inert waiting for medicine to work (which takes way longer than doing something ELSE while waiting for the medicine to work) what should one do while waiting for a headache to go away?

What would you do?

Keep the Sunny Side Up

Someone that our family spent a great deal of time around when we lived in Central TX had a sad habit of following any good news with: "Well, just my luck... {insert most negative possible outcome here} would happen..." And if the negative ever did, in fact, happen to this person, we had to hear, "Oh, that's just the way it always goes for me..."

I confess to have a VERY limited tolerance of such Eeyore-esque-type thinking. Troy said something along those lines a few days ago and, just bless him, I kind of crawled all over him for it! We've got too much to be thankful for to grinch!

Updated:

Okay, this is simply hilarious. I started this post a few days ago when Troy made that comment and I was reminded of how little tolerance I have for such thinking. But I didn't finish the post, I just scheduled it for later, which NEVER actually posts, it just becomes a draft, and I would complete it later.

So this morning I woke up to a scheduled post that posted. For the first time EVER! An incomplete post. About not grinching, not looking for life to take a sour turn or hand you a raw deal.

Even funnier than my incomplete post actually posting when it was scheduled to, my side-by-side refrigerator is freezing everything from the 3rd shelf, down -- both sides -- and doing nothing to the top 2 shelves. (problem already diagnosed, thank you). And my new exercise program seems to be doing nothing but exhausting me. And of course everyone is still suffering from financial Christmas hangover a bit. All envelopes are empty and it's live-out-of-the-pantry time at my house! There is MUCH I am tempted to grinch about. There is MUCH that I would like to say, "Well, that is JUST my luck..." (actually, I really can't even bring myself to say it, I hate that phrase that much, but I'm thinking stuff along those lines!)

But I have to think WHY I hate that phrase. I hate that phrase because I am a chosen people, remember. I am royalty, dadgumit! I have a name to wear and a King to live up to. I am called to live a life "worthy of my calling", and griping about the grit of life is NOT living a life worthy of my calling.

I really did start this to talk about getting what you look for: expect negative, you get negative. Antique Mommy wrote about planning for joy. Sometimes you have to look a little harder, but the joy is way more fun to find! Where's the challenge in finding the negative when your baby carrots are frozen solid and your frozen peas are liquified? It's just too easy. Planning for joy. Today? A challenge. But I'm on it...!

In Lieu of Blogging

So I sit here to get some real deep thought conveyed, and the whole house goes into chaos. I'm waiting for the paramedics or the police or SOMETHING to knock on the door after all the brouhaha that has ensued in the 4 minutes since I sat at the computer. So my deep thought is buried under a little bit of simmering irritation.

While I go knit a scarf or organize my spices to calm down, here's a treat. I have this on my running list, but it's obviously not a great beat. I listen to it to cool down. Love it.

Good Things Out There

• Well, I have to start with Carrie for being a Good Thing Out There, because I have FINALLY been able to make the button the way I wanted for this, thanks to her amazing tutorial! Carrie, you're totally a good thing! Thanks!

• Then Lisa Laree had a thought-provoking post about marriage and what scripture says about 'loving your husband'.

• Antique Mommy has great perspective on all the stuff we just got for our kids for Christmas.

• And I can totally see me making these all the time! Wouldn't they make a great gift for friends and grandparents? Check out Chocolate on My Cranium's Personalized Notepad How To's!

• And thanks to Vann for pointing out this video. This hurts my heart (okay, maybe warms my heart) on so many levels. Precious, precious:

If you would like to add your 'Good Thing' button to your blog, copy the code into an 'HTML' box on your sidebar:

<a border="0" href="http://www.sarahstirman.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o397/SarahSti/blogbuttongoodthing-Page002.jpg" /></a>

Concert Friday...!

Besides needing to hear the amazing lyrics of this song, I needed the weight-lifting inspiration to see Nicole Mullens' arms. I don't think I knew what she looked like -- what a physically beautiful woman of God with an amazing talent. Be blessed (looks like this was taken with someone's camera at a concert -- and I can't believe all those people are still SITTING down at the end of it. On your feet and PRAISE, people!)

A Chosen People

I posted what my family is having for dinner tonight here. You will want to try it. I promise.

I've gotten many nice comments about yesterday's post about marriage, many of them being about me being so transparent about the struggles I personally have, as well as the struggle my marriage has survived. I have told many, many people through the years: I have begged the Lord to not let that time in my life be for nothing -- let me use it for His glory! And He has been faithful to allow that!

This morning I was doing my reading -- I'm in the middle of November in my One Year plan! A little slow I am -- in 1 Peter 2. The first verse is really tough for me -- it basically mentions ALL the things those of us who are 'basically good' really struggle with:

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.

Um... yeah. If I allow God to look really closely at my heart -- most of those things are a constant battle for me. I'm really hung up on 'malice', honestly. Oh, and sure, it can be tied into the whole marriage thing... all of these things can.

Dictionary.com defines malice: the desire to do harm to others

I would never desire to harm someone, would I? Maybe I just need to correct their thinking just a little bit. Maybe I need them to re-think the way they parent, or spend, or attend church, or dress, or live in any way. The WAY I approach someone about any of those points can be harmful, and God has convicted me of my flippant, criticizing tone -- frequently with those people I love the most.

I can't even go on with hypocrisy, "Oh, NO! Here she comes again... (sickly sweet tone and smile) Hey!! Great to see ya!" Ummm-hummm....

Envy?... but have you BEEN to my gym and seen what those women look like? Honestly. And what those dual-income families can do and buy? Please.

Yes, the Lord has convicted me good today! And my reading today wrapped up with the best part:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Live a life worthy of my calling. Put away all that malice and envy, hypocrisy and slander so that I may declare the praises of him who called me out of it!

Fireproof or on Fire?

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:33

I haven't seen the movie "Fireproof". In part, because when it was in my little town, life was too nutty to try to fireproof anything. I really drug my feet about going, also. I have mentioned a time or twelve that Troy and I have survived a rough patch in our marriage (kind of like Katrina has been a 'rough patch' for New Orleans) and things are, this minute, better than I ever thought they would be in the middle of that (and please don't hear me say 'perfect' and please DO hear me giving God every bit of the glory for any marriage left -- without Him, we were DONE). However, there is still a little hurt and healing that God needs to take care of, and I don't know that I'm ready to go see someone else struggle through the same thing (obviously, I'm not even positive what the premise of the movie is other than 'fireproofing a marriage' -- but I'm guessing it starts with a marriage in a not-great place).

Tucker saw it recently with his wife out there on the frozen tundra where he farms when it isn't frozen tundra. In writing his thoughts on the movie, and the scripture, he talked about the scripture in Ephesians 5 is, like the movie (evidently the movie very closely acts out Ephesians 5:22-33) mostly directed to men. The scripture says again and again, "Husbands love your wives,... husbands love your wives..." However, notice (above) how v. 33 ends talking to the women. We aren't told to love our husbands. Chances are, we already do, always have, always will, no matter what he is or does. We are told to respect our husbands.

This is one of those things that I know, but don't always put into practice. Just recently -- within the last month, I think -- I had to apologize to Troy when we got home from somewhere. I made some comment -- probably trying to be funny -- that could have been demeaning to him. Truthfully, I do not remember AT ALL what it was, I just remember apologizing, and thankfully, Troy has a horrible memory so even if I asked him, he wouldn't remember either. HOWEVER -- whoever I was talking to may remember it. And they may have an impression about how I feel about my husband that is inaccurate. What if it was someone who wasn't a Christian and that was my witness? Praying God's grace over that...!

One of the comments on Tucker's blog made me realize that I have been given MANY opportunities to hear and learn this information, and I STILL have trouble actually doing it. I went to a Christian school 1st-12th grades, and 12th grade Bible class was ENTIRELY about marriage. I had both Faulkner and Brecheen for Bible at ACU, who spent YEARS giving marriage seminars, and Troy and I have been to two of those seminars as well. KNOWLEDGE isn't what makes the difference in respecting your husband (nor about any other aspect of Christianity, I guess). It's day to day living it.

The comment on Tucker's blog made me realize that's kind of a foreign concept/ idea for some women. Even though it sounds like a great idea, they may not be sure how to 'put legs on it'. In short, it means it is your job to honor your husband by the way you talk TO him, the way you talk ABOUT him, the way you respond to his decisions, the way you care about the things he cares about. Again -- I can SAY it easier than I can DO it. But God can do a LOT when I let Him.

When Troy and I were in marriage counseling, much of our discussion was around my role as "Troy's biggest cheerleader" -- not only just to him, but to other people. We all get so beat up by the world around us -- your spouse should be the last person who "puts you in your place"!! Home shouldn't be where you go to become wounded further, or a place to hide from -- home should be the safest place there is.

I have mentioned before -- maybe not here -- that Coffee Group has an unwritten rule: we do NOT husband bash. So many women's groups turn into a place to air all of their complaints about their spouse. That can turn into a VERY ugly mob-frenzy! The best part about my Coffee Group is that if any of us do need to vent about something not going well, we can vent -- but the group generally 'sides' with the husband. Because they all love him, too, and don't want anyone to talk poorly about him.

This has just been on my mind since reading that comment on Tucker's blog. Since hearing Gary Thomas at his 'Sacred Marriage' workshop (which I wrote about and can't currently find) -- I have been haunted by this thought: "As Christians, our marriages SHOULD be one of our biggest evangelism tools. They should look completely different from the world's. But they don't..." Ouch, huh? (or, in current vernacular, "I know, right?" -- whatev...)

So I must leave here and go be with my husband. And I will commit to you and him to renew my commitment to him and the Lord to respect my husband.

Which brings me to another post for another day -- AWESOME book I'm reading now...!

A Grateful Heart is a Happy Heart

Anyone else see the irony in me STRESSING out over the cash hemorrhage (that started around Christmas) while I was leaving the grocery store -- and coming home and needing to spend 5 minutes rearranging stuff in my freezer so that I could shut the freezer door?

If I were God, I would thump a child as ungrateful as me.

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1:16

So I'm Thinkin'...

Always dangerous to be thinkin', I know. But, yeah, I've got a few New Year's resolutions, mostly going okay so far. But more than anything as the new year rolls around (do you capitalize New Year, or only when referring to it as a holiday? so confused...) I, like many of us, take stock of me, goals, yada, yada. And, no doubt, some years I have the same resolution for several years in a row.

So, a little bit fed up with that, I of course want to simply stop and declare, "Well, that's just the way I am; I won't ever accomplish 'x'" or "I just don't have it in me to do 'y'". And, no doubt, God definitely designed me a certain way and there are certain things that are (literally) beyond my reach -- the top shelf of anywhere being one of them! I probably won't start in the WNBA anytime soon (my daughter's current dream), probably won't win the Tour de France in the next 10 years (or ever), and don't expect a Dara Torres-esque dive into the 2012 olympics from me.

But to have realistic goals and expectations of myself that I have simply fallen short of in the past, does that mean it's over forever and a done deal? More than anything, if my goals and expectations are in line with God's will for my life, am I doubting His ability to carry them through in me?

One faithful blog reader (don't know if it's okay to 'out' you here) wrote on her blog (facebook? somewhere...) that she wants to claim to be fearless this year. Fearless in Him. I love that, and think we are all called to be just that. And I think that is where many of us trip up in our goals. We get to the edge, see the unknown, see the hard work, see the patience required... and turn around to what we've always known.

I long to trust HIM beyond my abilities. I pray to relinquish the phrase "But I can't..." I just want to live each day big and loud, to His glory, and fearlessly. Wonder if I would have given an atheist a Bible...?

An Atheist on Evangelism

Saw this yesterday on another blog. I have been completely haunted by it. This is Penn, of Penn and Teller, a professed atheist (confirmed atheist? devout atheist? don't know what you call it). He makes a point about evangelism that is the best, most succint reason/ explanation for evangelism I have EVER heard. If you don't have time for the back-story (which is patently un-fascinating) you can skip to 3 minutes in to hear it. The other thing that really struck me is how many times he had to qualify this ONE Christian that he met as 'sane' -- probably said it 5 times. Which leads me to believe that the only other people who have approached this atheist to evangelize, witness, what-have-you, could possibly fall into the 'insane' category.

Book Review: Twilight

Last spring I saw all this stuff (okay, Flair if you must know) about being in love with a vampire, how awesome Edward is, blah-dee-blah. Whaa...t? So, I found my good friend Google, figured out some book named "Twilight" was all the rage with the young women, left it at that. Little did I know that within a few short months my daughter would be clamoring to read it, the movie would come out, and all my friends would know about Edward and Bella, as well.

I am usually one to run the other way when I see a bandwagon, and ANYTHING that someone tells me I HAVE!! TO!! READ!!! BECAUSE IT IS SO!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!! I generally stay away from, or at least approach with great trepidation (think "The Shack").

So, I could have lived the rest of my life without reading Twilight, but felt that as much as my daughter has enjoyed it (all 4 books -- is it 4? -- and went to the movie with the middle school 'book club' that discussed it) I felt I should be a bit in the know.

If you have lived under a rock for the past 4 months, let me tell you the basic premise: Bella (human) falls in love with Edward (vampire). The end. Well, obviously, there are problems because Bella needs to eat and sleep, unlike Edward, and Edward needs to eat -- Bella's blood. But he refrains, evidently making him the s*xiest main character ever, according to most females I've heard from.

As far as the moral implications -- I actually kind of like it. There is a GREAT discussion in there about refraining from what your natural urges are if they urge you to do something that is wrong. The s*x aspect is non-existent -- a few stolen kisses here and there, as it should be for a 17 year old (Edward is, of course, about 112 or something, but appears to be 17).

I didn't think the vampire aspect was scary. Creepy, yes, but not scary. I think any middle school kid would be fine with it. I let Ashley read it before I had read it because someone I trust allowed her 9 year old daughter to read it. Now that I've read it, I'm not sure I would allow a 9 year old to read it.

I've read it. Check. I may or may not hunt down the 2nd one to read, too, simply because I'm curious about what happens, but you won't catch me buying a Twilight t-shirt/ notebook/ pencil case/ tattoo any time soon. It isn't a book that I would want to demand back the time I spent reading it, but I'm not as big of a fan as others appear to be. Not a bad way to spend a few hours reading.

P.S. I don't think any males would care for it at all. A little too much teenage angst and drama, and Bella is just ... whiny? demanding? unrelenting? teenager-y? I don't know, but I can't think of any males who would enjoy her behavior.

Elephant Mystery Solved ... Kind of...

So today I was tagged in a pic on facebook. I clicked over and Kyle (my Aflac representative!) had posted this:

(Notice the elephant is on the truck, not a trailer... hmmm....)

Anyway, if Kyle is being serious (always a gamble) he said he had talked to the guy, company name Flashback, and he makes them. That is all Kyle said. So.... I guess Mr. Flashback either doesn't have room to store it now that he made it, or he is spending all of his advertising budget on gasoline to drive around town. Now, Kyle said he makes "them". Do you honestly think there is a big market for almost-life-size elephants here in Abilene? What does Mrs. Flashback say about this? Still more mystery.

Y'all, I have to tell you -- My little Nike-mini gal that I posted on my blog is CRACKING me up. Sometimes she's doing the 'walking man'. Sometimes she's running hurdles. What cracks me up the most is when she says "I could run this with my eyes closed" because we all KNOW that I can barely run with my eyes open!

Tonight was basketball. The gym felt nice and cozy warm when I walked in from outside, but after sitting there for about 10 minutes, it was too warm to hardly stay awake! Add to that, the very young little referee positioned himself precisely where I could see NOTHING that happened in the southeast fourth of the court, which was probably only about 33% of the game! At one point, there was a tremendous crash (from that corner), the entire crowd that COULD see gave a collective, "Oooooooh..." So, I realized, "Well, someone fell REALLY hard." The gym is still completely silent at this point. I'm craning and stretching and looking around ref's rear to realize, "Oh, hey, that was my baby girl that just crashed into the gym floor." By the time I realized that she was on her feet and taking off, but I still don't know what happened. It's probably best. I do know that she landed on elbows and knees, instead of her head like the lady in front of me told me. That's gonna leave a mark.

And, tomorrow is Friday. A fairly calm weekend in store for us -- our only one this month. Anyone doing anything fun? I think I'm going elephant hunting.

Snoozed and Lost

This morning, I read a really great scripture that I wanted to share with you. But it's carpool week. And today is Ashley's birthday (which means I am the mother of a teenager!!!) so of course I had to take her a lunch to school. Oh, and buy a card because I always forget that her birthday comes RIGHT after everyone goes back to school. And I volunteer at Riley's school on Wednesday afternoons. Then there was a haircut, birthday dinner, church, more birthday celebration, and here I am. I have no idea what the scripture was, but I'm sure it would have rocked your socks off.

Anne signed up for this. As always, I'm 3 days late and several dollars short, but I think I shall participate. I think you should, too.

As mentioned, I am the mother of a teenager. I wasn't prepared for how old that makes me feel! And as Chondra Pierce says, "That means that now, I'm an idiot." I'm totally used to that.

And, since you aren't on facebook, I have to tell you the great elephant mystery of Abilene. Yesterday, driving through the middle of town, I saw the strangest thing. So this was my facebook status:
"Sarah is very sad I didn't have the camera phone ready when the truck carrying the ginormous elephant statue on a trailer drove by."

Very funny. Then, this morning, another facebook friend said:
"I saw the ginormous elephant statue this morning on the way to work and I didn't have my camera with me either! Yes, it was on a trailer being pulled behind a white truck! Where is the elephant going??"

Weird... there is an elephant statue cruising the streets of Abilene. Surely it has a destination...

THEN, this afternoon, Amy posted:
"OK, I'm totally 100% not making this up.... just driving home from HEB and cruising over the overpass at 83/84 was the truck carrying the elephant statue on a trailer!!!!! WHAT THE HECK!!!????"

What the heck, indeed? I mean, this statue is truly a little bit larger than any baby elephants I have seen. It's a little big to be selling door-to-door, you know?

So my status tonight is:
"Sarah needs the next person in Abilene to spot the elephant statue on the trailer to stop the driver and ask him why he is cruising town with it?"

And Val said that he saw an elephant statue yesterday, too -- but not on a trailer, it was in a truck. (Cue eery music) Are there two? Are the elephants stampeding via motorized vehicles? (and one at a time because they're low on gas money?)

In short, what is the DEAL with the elephants, people???

Since we may NEVER know, make up your best story about why a man is pulling a trailer with an almost-life-size elephant statue on it around Abilene, evidently for DAYS??? What do you think could possibly be the reason?

Ortho and Haircuts and Carpool, Oh My!

I know it's your world, too, but every afternoon/ evening from 3-7 is just a life- marathon, isn't it? I was incredibly lazy over the holidays so getting back to a routine has actually been a nice change. But it's just so much routine! This week is typically nutty, with just all sorts of mundane appointments that never seem to be in the 'finished' column!



As I mentioned yesterday, I'm just slowly crawling back into walk/ jogging. I shouldn't have quit going to the bicycle class so soon -- my brain is suffering lack of exercise endorphins! I know that makes no sense to you, but if I don't get back on track soon, my family will probably request that I move out for a while. I'm also getting paid back for the people I have tortured while walking with me. I'm not tall, but when I walk for exercise, I walk FAST. It's what I do, how I find my endorphins! Well, flipping up your feet much faster than you are used to really works the front of your calf muscle (yes, it's the still the calf muscle, even in the front). So anytime I get a new walking buddy, they usually make it about 5 minutes into the walk until I hear, "Man, my shins are burning... let me stretch... wow... that is really on fire.." I sigh and roll my eyes and keep torturing these people. Well, my feet are flipping for about 5 minutes before my shins are aflame these days. Take great delight, walking partners!

Thank you to everyone who responded -- via facebook, email, AND comments on this blog for song suggestions! I plan to (eventually) try every last one of them. Maybe a reward to myself for getting back to running where I want to be would be an iTunes gift card to stock up! You can never give me too many! Keep sending them!

This morning, I woke up early to read my Bible before the day ran away with me. Walking down the hall in the dark I could hear Stickers' wheel squeaking. When I let Duchess out, I could hear Stickers "crunch, crunch, crunch"-ing on her food. I turned around to see Stickers' very ample bottom still on her exercise wheel while her top half leaned toward her food bowl. We have Americanized Stickers -- she is snacking while she exercises. Yeeshk. So funny.

Between my lack of exercise endorphins and some minor technology derailments of late, I have been a little grinchy. I think it's a mark of an abundantly blessed life when you allow the little things to bug you. And they have. But God is faithful and continued to bless me and this morning, after viewing my waddly little rodent, God gave me these words. Familiar words that, thankfully, increase their power to me with repitition:

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

May you soar on wings like eagles. May you run and carpool and care for and not grow weary. May you walk -- just one step in front of the other -- and not be faint. His blessings on you today.

Survey Time!

Would love your help!

After my injury, I am shuffling back into running. I would like to load my ipod with some awesome 'tunes to run by'. I would LOVE to hear what song(s) make you want to get moving or keep moving! Many places -- fitness.com, nikeplus.com, etc. all publish playlists that are popular. But when I go to iTunes, many of them are marked [EXPLICIT]. Most of my current running list is praise and worship, some is just fun, but none is [EXPLICIT]!! I try to be careful about what I cram into my feeble little brain...!

So, please, suggestions? What do you listen to? What do you like? Tell me your favorites!

Observations

In a foggy corner of my mind, I recall reading a book of fables as a child. I'm sure it was old even then. One of the fables told of a poor fisherman (one of the ways you know it's old) going to the 'wise man' in his village to inquire about what to do about his discontent wife: she was very dissatisfied with their tiny, tiny little home and was demanding he buy her a larger house. The wise man told him to keep a donkey in the house, and return in a week to see him. (you also know it's old because the wife didn't pack up and call the lawyer at this point). The next week, the wise man told the man to keep the donkey in the house and add two goats. This continued for a few more weeks until the house was a menagerie of farm animals. The final time, the wise man told the poor old man to take all of the animals out of the house. At this point, the wife was delighted with the vast spaciousness of her 'new' (animal free) house.

I think of that fable every year as we haul the Christmas decorations out of the house. *whew* I love my nice new, clutter-free house. (From December 1-25, they are called "decorations". Starting December 26, it is "clutter", from my vantage point).

Nothing kills any family harmony that may have built up over the holidays like the whole family "working together" to put Christmas away. Not a silent night, holy night.

Not Resolutions, Exactly

Vann pointed me to this article/ blog post about summing up your goals for the New Year in 3 words. When I first heard the concept, I immediately came up with 3 words, but as I read the article, my words evolved to be more inclusive.

Here is what I settled on for 2009:

Seek. Do. Purpose.

Seek -- the Lord with all my heart; what's best for my family; health; order (always seeking order...)

Do -- as in, 'Just Do It'; stop planning, procrastinating, rationalizing, but DO!

Do Something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn't, do something else. Roosevelt, Franklin D.

Purpose -- do on purpose; have intention and purpose; Intentionality, my favorite word

I would love to hear yours. Do you have 3 words for the year?

Fitness Friday: Wii Fit Review

So, I mentioned that we got a Wii and Wii Fit for Christmas. And we are LOVING it! The kids are actually using the Wii Fit more than the other games. I think because you can actually compete against the rest of your family in balance, strength, yoga, and aerobics. It's VERY fun -- and we can see whose strengths lie where. Mine is in yoga because I have good balance, but oddly enough, I do horribly on the balance games. Mainly because all of the balance games require you not only to have balance, but to respond and have reasonable reflexes, which I do not.

Okay, so you're wondering if you should sink the bucks into the Wii and/or the Wii Fit to aid you in your own workouts. Should you? Good question. Like everything else, it depends. Overall, though, I would give it a resounding YES! You need a Wii Fit!

The Wii Fit first gives you an 'age test': by measuring your center of balance (while standing on two feet), your BMI (based on height and weight), and then will give you 2 other balance tests (can vary). My age has ranged from 48-21! I have realized that the age has less to do with BMI (sadly, since it's been the holidays, mine continues to increase) and more with balance. Again, I'm pretty good at balance, but with my ankle still recovering, I've had a little trouble with it. But it's just an arbitrary age that is going to fluctuate depending on the day.

Then you can do 'training'. The training has 4 components:

yoga

strength training

balance games

aerobics

You get about 5 activities in each component to begin. The more you play/ exercise, the more activities you unlock and open. Balance games and aerobics are fun enough to keep my kids working on them. Yoga and strength training look suspiciously like exercise, so they are avoided by the younger crowd around here.

The balance games are FUN -- everyone in the family enjoys them. Troy and I are having a slalom skiing competition. I got pretty good beginner's luck and cannot top my own score now! Bummer! That is also where you see the kid trying to head the soccer ball on the commercial. I am HORRIBLE at that. They kick soccer balls at you that you are supposed to hit back, which I can almost do with about 50% accuracy, but THEN they start kicking shoes and huge panda heads (which look like soccer balls!) and if you get hit with those, you lose points. I'm just so bad at it.

The aerobic component is what, to me, is the most lacking. It is fun, and it will get you moving and keep you warm, but it isn't enough for an actual aerobic workout. But it is SOMETHING, and remember? "Anything is better than nothing."

I think the Wii Fit will be a great addition to my fitness routine. I don't see it REPLACING anything I'm already doing -- it just isn't enough. But it will be a great supplement to what I'm doing, and a great way to stay up on my yoga and strength on days when the gym may not have a class that I can get to.

Besides an unimpressive aerobic component, the biggest drawback to the Wii Fit is not being great for beginning exercisers. The strength training and yoga give detailed instructions, but they leave out tiny tricks that I know from doing such for years that could help someone be successful. I just don't know if a brand new beginner would be able to be successful enough and make appropriate modifications as necessary to continue to exercise. I do think there is enough that a beginning exerciser COULD do to get active and have fun, though.

I think the Wii Fit is a wonderful tool to measure PARTS of your fitness, and a wonderful addition to an exercise program. I also think it would be a fun way for someone who hates exercise to get started, but I don't think it should be the entirity of your fitness plan for more than a few weeks.

If you would like a little more info, this is a little more detailed.

Have fun and be fit!

Happy New Year!

Or, as Joshilyn called it, "Happy O CRAP I JUST WROTE 2008 ON MY CHECK Day"!

Well, again, life has changed my plans for me, and the blogging took a little hiatus (but if you would sign up to facebook or Twitter, you could have been RIGHT THERE with me through all the drama!) Thankfully, the drama wasn't huge or life-altering, but it was plan-changing, for sure.

Left to go to Louisiana on Saturday the 27th. Fairly uneventful, but Troy's stomach was a little unsettled. Truthfully, if both of us have gone 24 hours with a happy stomach in the last 5 years, I don't remember it, so neither of us thought much of it. Sunday we went to worship with the family, then lunch. Troy, even trying to not over-indulge, and stay away from sweets, still didn't feel well.

The cousins had a grand time playing together and took on a soccer game, headed up by my brother Kevin. My kids and I went to see my grandmother early Sunday evening and heard many more stories about her youth. The older I get, the more I love to hear those stories. My grandmother's hearing is all but totally gone, so conversations are very difficult, but her mind is AMAZING and she loves to tell the stories of 'those days'. I love to hear them, and the kids tolerated them. Riley, ever curious (told me in the car today: "Did you know that 1 in 2,000 babies are born with teeth and that the preying mantis is the only insect that can turn its head?" That is my life with him 24/7) returned to my parent's house and started major researching our family tree. "Who was Mamaw's mom? Did she have sisters? Who else am I related to?" Thank heaven for the internet! I've already done much of that research stuff at myheritage.com. Very interesting!

Monday we were lazy. I did a little workout, the kids did some more soccer and football and such. I think it was late Sunday night I got an email from my Abilene Families editor that if I had something to turn in, she could still take it (it was about 10 days post-deadline, so I figured I would just be left out this month). I went and did some writing at the local public library. All this while, Troy was still feeling not-too-great, leaning toward actually sick. He stuck to a baked potato for dinner Monday night, but continued feeling worse and worse. I did a little packing up -- we were supposed to come back to Abilene Tuesday morning, after all.

Tuesday morning we got up... to keep a long story from getting eternal, Troy said there was NO WAY he could travel 8 hours in the pain he was in. His stomach had graduated from "rolling" to just constant, excruciating pain. We ended up going to a minor emergency clinic where they were VERY nice to us and very kind and thorough, but didn't have the equipment to be sure what was wrong with Troy. They gave him a shot to manage the pain, then sent us to the ER. Oy. The ER.

They actually got us back in a room in less than an hour, so I thought they may have been okay. Listen up, folks, I am bordering on being an expert in emergent medical care. Those of you that think we have it bad in Abilene? Try getting sick in N. Louisiana. Yeeshk. I (guess) they know what they are doing, but here in Abilene -- I am a person caring for a sick person that I am with. The sick person I am with is treated with kindness and care, and I am respected and taken care of, as well. This time? I didn't exist unless I tripped someone going down the hall to say, "Excuse me, what exactly am I waiting FOR???" Troy wasn't a person to treat, he was a pain scale and a respiration rate to 'fix'. No one would acknowledge either of us upon entering the room, only tend to the numbers. I do take that back -- the dr. was okay, and one elderly guy, no idea what his 'ranking' was in the pecking order around there. He did Troy's EKG. I don't think Troy or I have ever had an EKG, and it was all I could do to not take a picture with my phone to post on the World Wide Web. I told my parents that it looked like they were trying to jump-start Troy. But the shots Troy had gotten were taking effect and he was barely conscious (that's why they were concerned with his respiration rate-- dropped a little low for a while) but that one guy told Troy everything he was doing and ended it with a 'Mistuh Troy' in a southern drawl. I doubt Troy remembers him at all, but of the 8-10 people we saw that day, he's basically the only one who acted as if either of us was a people.

Troy got sent home with the drugs starting to wear off, a Rx for some anti-cramping elixir, and a diagnosis of 'acute viral gastroenteritis and dehydration'. They gave him a bag of fluids in the ER, and told him to push the fluids that night, no solid foods, yada, yada. So instead of traveling back to Abilene we made it as far as the ER and back to my parent's house and my precious parents continued to sleep not in their own bed so Troy could be close to a bathroom if needed. We stayed one extra day for Troy to get caught up on fluids and calories. We came home today, 2 days late, but with Troy much better than 2 days ago. So very thankful.

Oddly enough (or not) I wrote the following on Monday for my looming deadline for the Valentine's Day issue of Abilene Families:

"Love is not a polished, glimmery state. Love is messy, inconvenient, and frustrating. Love is giving up the last ounce of energy, sleep, time, or chocolate for the well-being of another. Love isn’t found in romantic restaurants or destinations, but in hospital waiting rooms, the lobby of funeral homes, and kneeling in prayer next to race-car or princess beds in the middle of the night. Love is less about flowers and cartoon hearts, and everything about the value of another soul on this planet. I guess that’s a little harder to put on the side of a coffee mug."

I counted it my honor and privilege to be the caregiver of my hubs that day, and I am SO thankful we got sent home without surgery or major issues looming -- which were tossed out as possibilities. I'm thankful to be back at my house safely. I'm thankful for the family care we all received when we weren't at home.

So, plans got changed, all is well, and Troy and I are watching our Netflix 'Dreamgirls' to kick off 2009. And perhaps tomorrow I will think of where I would like to be by 2010. For right now, I am precisely where I want to be!

Happy New Year!