made just for Him

time heals many wounds

2009-11-09T21:18:00.003-06:00

November 8th came and went yesterday. It wasn't until today that I remembered the significance it has for Skip and I. I have a small tattoo over my heart of a pair of baby feet. It represents the baby that we never got to meet, the babe we never got to hold and kiss. We lost our first child from a miscarriage in March of 2000. It was a terribly painful experience but we encountered the peace and comfort of the Holy Spirit like no other time before. That babe was to be born on November 8, 2000. He or she would have been nine this year! I'll never forget the ache in my chest when we received the news, the disappointment and the shame that followed was debilitating. But that ache is gone now. It doesn't hurt anymore. I know that some day I will get to see that child.

back in the saddle again

2009-10-25T14:04:00.002-05:00

You know how when you don't exercise for a long time and you restart, even if it's something light, you hurt like mad for 4 days? That'll be me. It's been awhile since I have blogged but I need to get back into it.

Bear with me. It might hurt us both.

my favorite number is now 82

2009-03-05T17:51:00.002-06:00

I got my scores back this week for the pharmacy college admission test (PCAT). I was so scared to open it. But I did mighty fine!

I scored really high on the verbal ability, biology and reading comprehension. I did ok on the math and bottomed out with the chemistry. No surprises there. I was pretty ill-prepared for the chemistry. I did above average on my essay. My composite score, which combines everything and compares me to the "norm" put me in the 82nd percentile. That means that I did better than 82% of the norm. Or something like that. At any rate, 82 is now my favorite number!

The PCAT score is merely one facet in the jewel called "Pharmacy School Admissions Requirements". There isn't a passing or failing score. It's just a score. And I found out that those who do really well on their PCAT don't necessarily do well once they are in the program. Interesting. Now I have to finish off 2 pre-requesite (did I spell that right?) courses (economics and public speaking, which I'll do at the local community college), fill out the behemoth of an application, get my stellar references, write a personal statement, hope for an interview, get through the interview, pray for a spot, and WAIT. By this time next year I should know if I got in or not. I'll be applying to the Univ of MN here in Minneapolis and to Creighton Univ in Omaha (online program). Both would be excellent. Both are very competitive. With God on my side, I know I will get into something if that's what He wants!

The best thing is that I don't have to take that blasted thing over. Whew.

the planets

2009-02-19T09:54:00.002-06:00

Simon learned a song at school. It goes like this:

The planets, the planets
I can name the planets!
This brain of mine
Knows all nine
Now listen while I say them.
Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars and Jupiter
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto!

So he sings this. And it bugs me. Because Pluto is no longer an official planet, right? So I say,
"Simon, did you know that Pluto isn't actually a planet?" Without skipping a beat he responds in his "Duh, Mom" tone saying, "Mom, it's a dwarf planet."

Well, excuse me.

ugh

2009-02-10T07:42:00.003-06:00

The snow is melting and overnight we grew a pond in our backyard. Gross.

The red thing by the fence is a floating sled. The water is probably a good foot deep.
It will recede, thankfully.

Our backyard is a sea of melting yellow snow.

Ugh.

you need to read this

2009-02-08T09:46:00.000-06:00

Please read this. It will move you.

Hillbilly teeth and love

2009-02-04T07:36:00.004-06:00

Here's my new bookcase! I love you, Craigslist.

Ella's spreading the love. She made and taped these valentines all around the house.

Simon got some new teeth.

wisdom of a 6-year old

2009-01-22T08:04:00.002-06:00

Ella wrote this little adage yesterday.

"Whin you rich for the ski you alwas kech a star. You put it in a jar. To los yor friendship you haf to sa gime."

Translation: When you reach for the sky, you always catch a star. You put it in a jar. To lose your friendship you have to say, "Gimme!"

Pretty much sums up life, right?

odds and ends

2009-01-19T16:19:00.004-06:00

What do you say when someone gives you this? You pick your jaw up off the floor, embrace your friend and say, "You ROCK."

B & A, "You ROCK!"

This is what you get when you send your husband, the literalist, to the grocery store and tell him to get the biggest jar of Jif creamy peanut butter he can find. This thing is the size of a coffee can and I am SO happy. :-) Thanks for doing the grocery shopping, hon!

Ella opened the mini fridge in the conference room at the church. She says to Skip, "Dad, where's all the beer?" Uhhhh...

Are you as tired as I am of hearing me talk about studying and my stupid test? It'll be all over on Saturday, thank you Jesus.

i'm not dead...yet

2009-01-15T07:10:00.002-06:00

NEWSFLASH...I'm not in a ditch somewhere freezing to death. I'm still alive. I know many of you gauge my existence by the sheer quantity (and perhaps the quality) of my blog postings. So it's natural for you to think I have expired since I haven't posted anything in over a month. Whew. You can rest assured. I'm still alive. Barely. Last night they predicted a 5-year low of -50 degrees (not considering windchill). For those of you who live in 75-degree weather and are scratching your head at "windchill" it basically is a reference for what the temperature "feels like." Essentially I'm living in Antarctica today. To make matters worse, SCHOOL WASN'T CANCELED. What is wrong with our school district? Dammit, I really wanted to stay home today!

So what else is new with us? Ella lost another tooth on the bottom. We need to have a cash pool for these occasions. Because we didn't have 2 dimes to rub together (and we weren't about to make a trip to the ATM in subzero weather at 9pm), Skip wrote Ella an I.O.U. from the tooth fairy. Seeing that she can't read super well, you can imagine the disappointment and tears that erupted the next morning. She sat in her room for 15 minutes staring at the note which said that she could have an ice cream cone (perfect in this weather) any night this week. I had to help her see that our kind (the personality that she and I share) has a very hard time when things don't go as expected and that she had to see that ice cream is not a bad thing. It's just different than we expected. Life is hard for our breed, I tell ya.

My big entrance exam for pharmacy school is a week from this Saturday. I am officially freaking out. Please pray for me!

So a very interesting thing happened last week. I have been meeting with a woman that I have known for 8-9 years (she was a teen in a former youth group). She needs a lot of love and so I've been trying to pour it on thick. Well about a month and a half ago she informed me that she might be pregnant. Not a good thing. So we did a prego test and it failed. Not "negative" but the test didn't work. She wouldn't do another one. So fast forward to last week. She tells me that she did a test at home and it was positive. The father didn't want anything to do with her now and she needed to get an abortion. Something sparked in me. I'm not a supporter of abortion in any situation so I determined to be the champion for this unborn child. I cried. I prayed. I spent as much time with this woman as I could to encourage her to make an educated decision about the life of this baby. Yes, I would respect her decision if she chose to have an abortion. But I wouldn't go down without a fight for its life. It all came to a head last Friday. In the wee hours of the morning Skip was praying. And he shared something with me that he felt like God wanted me to hear. He told me to guard my heart in the event that this gal wasn't being truthful and she wasn't actually pregnant. Needless to say, I wasn't happy to hear this. But it resonated with me as it wasn't the first time anyone had said that. So I spent the rest of the day preparing myself. I took a half day off work and made an appointment at the local crisis pregnancy center. I asked my friend to come with me. She refused to come with me. Long story short, I had her do 2 more pregnancy tests (the first one "failed" again). The second one was negative. Did she lie to me? I really don't know for sure. But because I was prepared, I really didn't get angry. I'm thrilled she's not pregnant.

So what does all this mean? Late last year I asked God to give me a verse for this new year. He gave me Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." He gave me the perfect life experience to implement that verse into my life. He sparked an advocacy in me, a fight for justice and what's right, that I never knew was there. It's really cool. This gal doesn't deserve mercy. I even had people telling me that I enabled her to lie to me and that I need to cast her from my life because she's too needy and disrupted the flow of my life. Jesus never did that. His life was the needy people. Those were the items on his agenda, not the distractions that were preventing him from getting things done. Jesus, even knowing that be would be betrayed by one of his closest friends, didn't cast him away. He loved him to the end. Was that enabling? Nope. It was mercy. That's who I want to be like.

One final note. I got the Wii Fit for Christmas. It's flippin' awesome! I expected it to help me exercise. What I didn't expect was it to give me marriage advice. Yesterday morning I got up a little early to spend some time on it. It says to me, "Good morning, Carolyn. You're up early." A little creepy, yes. Then it says, "So, have you noticed Skip's posture lately?" It gave me several options for my response. I figured I'd answer honestly so I chose "No." (Who notices posture?) Then it says to me, "Well, maybe you aren't spending enough time with Skip." Uh, excuse me? Considering how much I've seen Skip these last few weeks, I think it's probably right.

Wish me luck this morning as I venture out into the bitter, frigid, frozen tundra I call home. (Jen, a vacation in Cali is sounding mighty attractive right now!!!)

family sing along

2008-12-18T20:02:00.002-06:00

Ella, Skip and I were just singing a lively round of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", not forgetting all the little things you shout after each line. Ella apparently has learned them in school. Here's one she sang that we didn't get. Maybe you can help. It's like Mad Gab, really.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say,
LIKE THE KETCHUP!
"Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Ketchup? Huh? What do condiments have to do with Santa and Rudolph?

THIS is what i want for christmas

2008-12-15T07:35:00.002-06:00

If you get me nothing else for Christmas, just let it be this. I can't possibly live without this.

NOT

all i want for christmas...

2008-12-13T21:01:00.002-06:00

is my two front teeth.

Skip just pulled Ella's second front tooth out. My stomach is still a little upset. Blech...

feeling free

2008-12-12T22:44:00.003-06:00

Last year I wasn't a fan of Christmas.

This year is a little different. In some ways I think I'm in denial. Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. Have I done my Christmas shopping? Nope. Am I freaking out? Nope. Do I really care? Nope. We have no more money than we did last year. In fact, we probably have less. I'm just not freaking out. I'm not sending out Christmas cards, at least not before Christmas. (So if you wonder why you didn't get one, now you know. Nothing personal.) If you are a dear friend of ours (even if you aren't), please don't be offended if you don't receive anything from us this year. We didn't forget you. We love you.

So what's the difference? I'm not sure. I think that I've learned a good skill this year. Saying NO. "Nope, I can't do that. Sorry, can't afford that. Nope, don't need that." I'm saying NO to overbuying. I'm saying NO to trying to buy everyone a little something but still feeling guilty that it's not more. Everyone is feeling the tension of a sour economy. Why are we still striving to out give each other when we really can't afford it? I'm not saying that those who can, shouldn't. If you have the means, then be my guest. Here is such a funny but very poignant blog about Christmas and gifts and spending. You must read it.

Last year after Christmas I found a free fake tree on Craigslist (where else?) It ended up being someone we know that was giving it away. She warned us that it was really heavy and that it had some issues with the lights (it's a pre-lit tree). I didn't care. That much. So we hauled this behemoth thing back to the house and it sat in the garage for months. Finally it made its way under the house. We never set it up so I knew it was going to be an adventure this Christmas. I knew that we couldn't get a real one again because I reacted too strongly to the pollen. And they are a terrible mess. AND I worried that Vinnie would lift his leg and pee on it. Seriously. So we drag the tree out the day after Thanksgiving. It literally took us 5 minutes to set it up. It's absolutely gorgeous. Looks more real than a real one. It's tall and full and just perfect. Only the lights are a little funky. There are only 2 layers of lights that work. So we pulled out the tangled mess of Christmas lights and strung blue ones around the non-working layers. It looks like a bomb pop! It's so pretty. We had the kids hang all the ornaments on the tree and had a blast. I typically hate Christmas trees. This is the first year I don't.

I guess the best way to describe how I feel this Christmas is free. I like that. A lot.

my new floor

2008-12-04T07:02:00.003-06:00

Thank you, Oh Brother Tim, for lending thine skill of laying tile to my humble abode. The Good Lord hath bestowed on you the greatest of talent.

a nativity revelation

2008-12-04T06:58:00.002-06:00

When the Bible says, "Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord," I bet you never imagined that to include Transformers.

Well, here you have it, folks. Even Transformers came to worship baby Jesus.

traditions

2008-12-03T07:16:00.002-06:00

I'm not what I would consider a staunch traditionalist. I'd rather not have turkey for a holiday meal. I'd rather open all my Christmas presents when they are purchased or mailed instead of waiting until Christmas morning. I don't see anything wrong with celebrating Christmas on a beach in the Bahamas.

But there are a few traditions that I really enjoy. A few years ago we did a simple craft in MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers). We took home a large piece of linen fabric and a fabric pen. The fabric was a table runner that everyone was to write on each Thanksgiving what their favorite T-Day memory was or what they were thankful for that year. I LOVE IT! It's so fun to look back and remember what we did. One year Becky and I were in Morocco. One year we ate pie first. This year my brother was with us. Last year we were in Colorado and had 50 people for dinner. Another tradition I love is advent calendars. My kids get an advent calendar every year from my grandma. She used to get me one when I was a kid.

Here's a tradition that I really don't like. Let me preface this by saying that sometimes I have unrealistic expectations of something that really just set me up for disappointment. This was one of those times. Last week we got a list in the paper of some of the big light displays that people put up outside their homes. Since there were several listed in our area, we decided to map them out and drive around last night. What a disaster.

Unrealistic expectation #1: That my kids would be able to ride around in the car for an hour without fighting, but would oooh and aahhh at the beautiful displays. Instead they just irritated each other and yelled, "CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!" every time we passed a house with more than one colored light on it. They were either complaining of being bored or being hungry.

Unrealistic expectation #2: That I'd get a nice hot latte to enjoy while we drive. Just didn't happen. Grrr.

Unrealistic expectation #3: That people in my area would be able to tastefully decorate their homes. I failed to recognize that we live in what one might call "Redneck Territory". So we weren't looking at beautiful homes draped in icicle lights. We were looking at cardboard box homes with every inch of yard filled with the tackiest plastic or blow-up character. I didn't realize that Spongebob could be associated with Christmas. Oh wait, he had a Santa hat on, so I guess that counts. Did you know that Santa doesn't ride in a sleigh anymore but a Harley? There were 2 homes that looked like they were having, what Skip so eloquently described as, a pissing match. They were directly across the street from each other. Each yard had 50-75, 2-3ft tall plastic, lit up snowmen. They were all facing the street, looking like 2 armies getting ready to face off. It was disgusting.

We just might try out the Macy's 8th floor display in downtown Minneapolis this year. But I'm worried that it will be another Holiday tradition that sounds fun but is really just a hassle. What do you think my fellow Minnesota moms?

what a way to wake up

2008-11-18T07:52:00.002-06:00

This is what greeted me this morning when I got up (well, besides my coffee and Skip and dogs that can't hold their tongues in their mouths).

we need to talk about the food shelf

2008-11-16T19:44:00.003-06:00

We need to talk.

There seems to be a misunderstanding about the food shelf. And I'd like to take a moment to help you understand the purpose of it and to give you a better picture of the kind of people it serves. You can't turn on the radio or walk into a local business this time of year without seeing some kind of food drive or request for canned goods. My grocery stores offer grocery bags already filled with food shelf items that you can buy for $5 or $10. You bring a canned item to the local tanning booth and you get a free tan. (Not a joke).

What catalyzed this conversation (and I really hope that it is) is an e-mail I got from Caribou Coffee, one of the largest coffee chains here in MN. Their latest promotion is to get you, the kind-hearted consumer, to purchase a pound of coffee beans to donate to the local food shelf. And you get a free drink for doing so. Woohoo. Caribou says that one of the most requested food items is coffee. So let's all fight hunger in the US by donating at $12/lb bag of coffee, right? As you can already tell, I'm dripping with sarcasm.

So let's talk about the purpose of the food shelf. Pretty simple, right? People don't have enough money for food. Some people spend their money on lottery tickets. Some people don't make more than minimum wage. Some are bums. Some are hard-working families who just don't make enough to cover the rent and food. Some have too much credit card debt and can't afford food. Some just got laid off from their high-paying jobs and didn't have any savings. The kinds of people that visit the food shelf are as varied as the fish in the sea. The point is, you have to get the stereotype out of your head. They are people. Families. Those with needs...so pretty much people like me and you.

Although the food shelf (especially those supported by the government) does get money to purchase food, they are greatly dependent on the generosity of people. People like me and you.

So here's my beef. What would happen if instead of donating a basket of nonperishables that can actually fill a belly and are healthy, everyone decided to donate a pound of bitter coffee? Or what if we continued to empty out our cupboards of ONLY the extra cans of jellied cranberries, lime Jell-O, generic tuna casserolle (but not the $4 jar of alfredo sauce--that's too yummy) for the food drive? Here's what would happen...a family in need would go to the food shelf and walk away with a box containing things like this: a bag of stale donuts, a container of caramel corn, a box of candy canes, a really old box of hamburger helper, etc. You think that doesn't happen. It did. To me.

Not more than 4 years ago Skip and I moved our family back to Minnesota from California. We were financially destitute. Poor choices, high cost of living and a job that paid next to nothing put us in a very bad financial position. I had to swallow my pride and sign our family up at the local food shelf. In my mind, the food shelf was only reserved for those on welfare. Not so. While most of my experience with the food shelf was wonderful, when we moved to another county, I was horrified at what they had to offer. A grocery bag of stale donuts. A container of caramel corn. A box of candy canes. Seriously. How was I supposed to feed my family with crap like that? Although many Americans would be excited about a package of danishes, I was not. I wanted something that would nourish us, not make us fat. That was my last trip to the food shelf.

So we are at a crossroads now. My kids have had food drives at school this month. There will undoubtedly be a group going door-to-door collecting food for the food shelf. What are you going to give? Are you going to weed out the cans that have been sitting there for over a year because you won't eat them, thinking, "Hey, if someone is really hungry enough, they'll eat anything!" Or will you fill that bag with the kind of food you feed yourself or your own children? Essentially you are feeding someone else's kids. Would you have someone over and feed them crappy food? You know you wouldn't. You would probably spend more on company than you normally would on your own family. Why not hold off on that $12 bag of coffee and go fill your cart with quality food for another family. Then drive it over to the food shelf yourself and volunteer to hand it out. I guarantee your perspective will change. Or think of us. Would you have my family over to dinner and feed it to us? Make your donations really count. Make it a sacrifice because then it will really mean something to you instead of being a relief that you can finally get your cupboard space back.

And if donating your lime Jell-O is a sacrifice, then do it. Just make sure you donate that can of pears too. Because Minnesotans can't eat lime Jell-O without pears.

a little bit of everything

2008-11-15T22:05:00.005-06:00

Even the occasional blog follower should find something interesting in this post.

Friday was Wacky Hair Day at school for Ella. She reminded me 15 minutes before we needed to leave. Mom-1, Last Minute Requests -0. I couldn't believe she actually wore it like that all day. She's a little sensitive about her appearance so I figured she'd chicken out. Turns out if everyone is doing it, she's more comfortable. Hmmm...

On Friday I took a half day off of work to whip my house into shape. My BFF Becky Tschamler and her boy Chris are in town for a wedding. Beck lives in Colorado so this was one of those screw-work-I-need-to-see-Becky days. I decided to try out a new recipe. Brave, yes. What I didn't think through was that it was an Italian dish and Becky's boy is ITALIAN. (I made chicken picatta BTW). And come to find out that chicken picatta is one of his favs. Nooooo pressure there! The sauce wasn't quite right until Chris suggested I add a little more EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). It was absolutely perfect. Sooo good. We had a great time with them!!!

My birthday gift from my mother-in-law arrived this week. It is a vinyl wall decal from Uppercase Living. I LOVE IT. Skip and I put it up today. Well, it was mostly Skip because he's way more perfectionist than I am and way more patient. I would have royally screwed it up. Thanks Skippy. It's over the stairs leading to the entry way. It says "Look Up, Not Down. Look Forward, Not Back. Look Out, Not In." What does it mean, you ask? I love it. To me it means, keep my eyes on Jesus and not myself (look up not down). Look forward to what lies ahead and not dwell on what I can't change in the past. Look out to the needs of others and not myself. Really something I need right now. The big words are a merlot color. The little words are the same pumpkin orange as my walls. We almost mixed up the bottom parts. That would have been serious blog material.

I even got some studying in today. I conquered calculus! And survived. Went to Caribou Coffee and used my giftcard I won on Susie Larson's blog site. Woohoo!

Skip amazed me this week and sold a bunch of computer games for $175. One hundred and seventy five smackers. He has been saving his moolah for this awesome tattoo. Well, turns out the image and the location for the artwork aren't going to jive. So he (like me) is returning to square one in the tattoo department and went out and spent his money. He got us a Wii!!! The kids flipped out. We got the Wii sports system so we have been working out hard all night! My arm is really fatigued! Watching Simon absolutely freak out while boxing Skip (and knocking him out) was absolutely hilarious!! It'll be a great source of entertainment for the whole family.

See, now wasn't that fun? I have a blog about the food shelf brewing. It'll come tomorrow. Stay tuned...

I can finally relax

2008-11-02T14:09:00.003-06:00

We moved into this house nearly 2 years ago. (Yessssss! A new record!) The previous owners were boring. Like really boring. They didn't even bother to finish the lower level in the house (which is a high-traffic area for us) until a month before they sold it. They lived here for 7 years. They didn't bother building a deck off the second story sliding door because they never entertained. They never painted anything inside. Oh wait, the bathroom was the slightest shade of off-white. We're talking really boring people. It has taken me almost 2 years to add color to the walls. Orange, red, green, blue, brown, tan. I love color.

A little conversation whiplash coming up...stay with me.

So for the last year or so I've been mulling over a new tattoo. My bro's girlfriend has this gorgeous one on her wrist. It's a hibiscus flower. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it. I decided that I wanted something on my wrist too. I finally decided that I wanted something that combined my favorite scripture (Psalm 116:7: Be at rest one more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.) and the henna tattoo that I got while in Morocco 2 years ago. I sold some stuff on Craigslist and saved my birthday money. But then I got to thinking...could this tattoo be a hindrance in my future career as a pharmacist? It would be in a pretty obvious place on my body (which is what I intended) and would be hard to hide. Darnnit. There goes my idea that took me like a year to settle on. Once I came to that conclusion it took me all of about 5 minutes to decide on what I would spend my money on: paint. (See, we're coming back around now...)

Half of my living room and 2 hallways were still white. And it really bugged me. I really benefit from completed projects and this one was killing me. We had a wide open weekend so I blew all my money at Hirschfields and have been painting my little heart out. The upstairs and downstairs hallways are now done! YAY! I have one gallon left and I'm hoping that I can not only knock out the big wall with the rug (requires an extension ladder) but the downstairs bathroom too. It's all the same color, which is ok. It's like a darker khaki tan. A nice backdrop to my explosion of color around the house. I love painting but love the feeling that it gives me when I'm done. My house finally feels complete. Weird, but true. It doesn't feel like an apartment anymore. I can finally relax.

this is my life

2008-10-30T19:55:00.002-05:00

Today was no different than any other.

I had to wear my husband's socks to work today because I don't have any clean ones. Time to do laundry, eh?

My daughter is singing opera.

My son says things are "Sensational!"

I found one solitary Kix in the bottom of my work bag today.

I found something on sale today that caused me to pump my arm and say, "Yessssssss!"

This is my life.

an afv moment

2008-10-29T21:20:00.003-05:00

America's Funniest Videos has been one of my favorite shows for as long as I can remember. Not because of Bob Saget, mind you, but because I think people falling down or getting knocked over is hilarious. So on Sunday morning I had an AFV moment, one I wish was taped so I could watch and laugh at myself.

I came downstairs first thing in the morning and stepped onto a wet rug in our entry way. Vinnie. I groaned and glared at him. My glare quickly faded as I looked at his almost cute, very crooked face and his wiggly butt. Fortunately the rug is an indoor/outdoor one so I can dump water on it and air it out. Our outside water was shut off last week (so they don't freeze and 'slpode during the winter). So I dragged the rug (it's a really big one) outside in the front yard and went to get a bucket of water. I used an old plastic garbage can, probably holds about 2 gallons of water. I donned Skip's jacket (didn't want the neighbors to see me in my jammies AND it's cold) and dumped a bucket of water on it. Went back for another. I had about 1/3 of a bucket left when I stopped pouring and rotated the rug. I was holding the bucket with one hand when it slipped from my fingers and dropped straight down. The impact on the grass caused the water to come shooting up like Old Faithful. Since I was bending over to rotate the rug, my face was right over the bucket. The water hit me square in the face. I flew back, arms flailing, sputtering, shocked by the cold burst. My hair was drenched and hanging limp at my face. I looked up and around to see if any of my neighbors were laughing at me. Nope. Still humiliated (and cold) I ran inside. I stood there at the door and just laughed at myself, wishing I could see it happen again. Only to someone else.

I got new glasses today. I always am nervous to change my appearance dramatically (new hair style, glasses, get fat, new clothes) because I worry that people will say, "Oh how nice!" but then turn around and make an icky face. Come on, you know you've done it. One of my coworkers saw my hair styled differently and said, "Did you get your hair cut?" I said, "No, I just styled it differently." She straightened up and said, "Oh," and walked off. No, "It looks cute," or "Well, that's different." Just walked off. Totally made me self conscious. So I get the new glasses today at lunch. My coworkers all tell me they look nice. But are they lying? Do I look like a dufus? I think they're cute. I'll get a pic of them on me later...but here's what they look like.

check this out

2008-10-29T20:22:00.002-05:00

Gotta pass on this great resource. For those of you who can't afford the free classes at the YMCA (because you can't afford the Y membership) then here's the thing for you. TONS of free, full-length exercise videos (NOT Richard Simmons). A large variety of formats from yoga, pilates to fat burn, dance-style.

I'm ready to start...tomorrow.

www.exercisetv.tv

finally, some truth from our scientists

2008-10-27T20:09:00.002-05:00

I'd just like to say that no one can ever tell me anymore that stinky farts have no value. Because here it is, folks, the science doesn't lie.

And I thought my research project in college was bad.

(For those that don't know, I enflamed the colons of poor, unsuspecting rats, performed brain surgery on them, then shoved condoms up their butts and inflated the condoms. Fun, huh? We were researching a drug that would relieve pain in those who suffer from Crohn's disease or irritable bowel syndrome).

an evening to remember

2008-10-18T13:49:00.002-05:00

Wow. We had an incredible time last night. It rivaled the 10-course dinner mom and I had with my aunt in some obscure French town back in 2001.

We got all dressed up and dropped the kids off with a sitter. We made our way downtown and went to the 26th floor of the skyscraper. It had the most gorgeous view imaginable. Fort Wayne has a lot of thick trees much like MN. It was so pretty. We sat down in the bar area and had our first round of adult beverages. I had a pomegranite martini (my drink of choice). Mmmm. It was so good. Then we made our way to our table which was right next to the huge windows. It was breathtaking. This restaurant is called Summit Club, and it's basically like a country club without the golf course. Only people who are members can eat there and it's really expensive. Fine dining. Mom's the accountant so she pretty much knows all the servers, bartenders, hosts, etc. They love her (who doesn't?). When we sat down we were offered another round of drinks. I ordered their newest drink. It's called an absinthe martini. Absinthe is a liquor that has been outlawed in the states for a very long time because of it's apparent hallucinatory affects. I will neither confirm nor deny those allegations. I'll just say that it was stinking amazing. After the first martini started to take affect I had already downed the second one. On an empty stomach. By the time our first course was delivered I was feelin' mighty fine. We ordered 2 appetizers: crab cakes and calamari. Sooooo good. Then we were brought a starter which was a teeny tiny little salad made with what looked like clover leaves and a balsamic vinegarette that was to die for and two bites of some hard, strong cheese. Yum. Then we got the most delicious cup of french onion soup I have ever eaten. Then we had amazing caesar salads. Mom got the fruit and nut salad which was sooooo good. Now, I know that sounds like a lot even before the main course. But at this time we've been there for about an hour and a half. Then we got a teeny tiny scoop of strawberry sorbet, which is a palate cleanser, before they brought on the main course. I ordered the scallops with a sweet potato cake thing and asparagus. It was unbelievable. Covered in butter sauce. Sooo good. Ok, I realize I have now typed that 3 times. I'll stop. After dinner we had to order dessert. So we each got something different. I got the 3 kinds of creme brulee (vanilla, currant--the best one--, and coffee.) I was so full I thought I'd barf. But I didn't. :-) Our table was decorated with little "Happy Birthday" confetti and a special birthday candle on our table. The conversation was really fun. We laughed the whole time. I'm so lucky that my parents are also my close friends. We have such a good time with them. We closed the restaurant down at about 9pm. We actually rode down the elevator with the chef. Very cool guy.

It was an awesome experience that I will never forget. Today we had a great breakfast out and have just taken it easy all day. Mom's got a big neighborhood BBQ planned in our honor tonight. Their neighbors love them. (who doesn't?) It's going to be really fun. The weather has been perfect all weekend. What a great vacation this has been. Tomorrow we're leaving early to go home. Yuck, not looking forward to that drive!

a surprise at 6am

2008-10-16T15:31:00.007-05:00

We arrived at my mom's house at about 6:30am after driving for 10 hours through the night. Shortly after we arrived my mom said that there was something in the fridge for me. It was a surprise.

Here's my reaction...

My dear friend Jenny in California is a cake decorator. A gifted one. She always sends me pictures of her cakes and I oooh and ahhh at them. Recently she sent me one and my response was, "If you could make me a cake for my birthday it would be this one." Well, Jenny did it. She was up visiting my mom last weekend and she made me the cake. It's been waiting for me in her fridge.

Jen, you blessed me BIG TIME. It brought tears to my eyes. I love you soooooo much. What an amazing friend you are!!!!

My dear friend Jenny in California is a cake decorator. A gifted one. She always sends me pictures of her cakes and I oooh and ahhh at them. Recently she sent me one and my response was, "If you could make me a cake for my birthday it would be this one." Well, Jenny did it. She was up visiting my mom last weekend and she made me the cake. It's been waiting for me in her fridge.

Jen, you blessed me BIG TIME. It brought tears to my eyes. I love you soooooo much. What an amazing friend you are!!!!

Having a great time in The Wayne with mom and dad. Had our first brush with criminal activity around 9am when some homeboy let himself into the vacant garage next door. Like 15 feet from my parent's house. Mom called the cops but the dude left before they came. I was totally freaked out. This really is the 'hood. There's the cops again...

We're enjoying a mellow day today. A great lunch out at the local brewery, a leisurely trip to Walmart while the boys and Ella slept, a great steak dinner on the menu, and some birthday cake. Tomorrow is the official birthday dinner at the swanky restaurant that mom works at. I'm thinking I'll order the scallops. This is turning into quite the delightful birthday weekend.

purses and pharmacy school

2008-10-11T18:03:00.004-05:00

I had a really great day today.

We got a babysitter and Skip and I bolted off to get a quick bite to eat. Chipotle tacos...mmm...

Then we made our way over to Savers, one of the best thrift stores in the Twin Cities. Skip needed jeans. I, on the other hand, went right to the purses. I love purses. Love them. But I have a problem. I prefer functionality over fashion 10 times out of 10. And that usually means that I end up with a really ugly, but highly user-friendly purse. I'm very picky, too. I spent a better part of a year looking for the perfect leather backpack purse. I found it at a street fair in Escondido, CA. But like my hairstyles, I am never content to stick with one for very long. Although I love the cutsy little clutch things, my planner doesn't fit in that. I don't care for the huge bags where everything gets lost. Lastly, and most importantly, I am ultra cheap. I buy $5 purses at Walmart. And I've never been the girl where others say, "What a cute bag!" The first thing my mother-in-law said when they visited this fall was, "Oh, you need a new purse." Gee, thanks. I just picked that one up about a month ago.

Savers, I have discovered, is the best place to experiment with purses. The last purse I bought there was a small corduroy number that I really like. It's actually a really cute purse. Today, I decided to take some risks and buy something that is not typical for me. I'm almost 31. It's time to move on from backpack purses, canvas and denim. Ok, I really don't have one right now, but I have in the past.

What do you think? (no, really, what do you think?) I spent $10 on all 3!!!

This last one is for my mom.

Our next stop was the U of MN for the pharmacy school preview day. Basically it was an introduction to the program with a panel of current students, pharmacists and a tour of the facility. It was AWESOME. It so confirmed in me that this is the profession that I want to get in to. I just don't want to wait for 2 years! I'll be patient because I know that a lot needs to happen in me and in our family before I'm ready. I think the U's program would be a good fit for me. It's familiar (I finished my bachelor's degree there). It's close. It's cheaper for me as a resident. It's the 3rd best in the nation. It's the driving force of change for pharmacy in the nation. And so on. So we'll see. I'm just very very excited. And very blessed to have my husband supporting me 100% on this. He was blown away today with the program and the field of pharmacy. Did you know that pharmacy and dentistry school give the greatest return on your education investment? Bet you didn't. It's a good field.

I'm now off to enjoy my homemade clam chowder, a glass of wine and a good crusty bread. Mmmm.

why i love my grandma

2008-10-11T10:28:00.002-05:00

There are many reasons why I love my grandma. She's quirky, knowledgeable, very loving, goofy, fun, wise, a good listener, generous.

She's also a crack up. Yesterday I get a birthday card from her with a check. Yes, I still get birthday cards and checks from her. (woo hoo!) This is what she says.

"Have a great day. Love you. You will always be special to me. How about going out and buying a bottle of wine and enjoy it while you say nice things about me. Ha."

Now that's my kinda woman. I wanna be like her when I grow up.

Tell me what you love about your grandma.

which one are you?

2008-10-10T08:54:00.002-05:00

Skip preached last weekend. Man was it good. I just love it when he preaches. Since he's just too busy right now to blog (he's working 55+ hours a week) I'm going to give you a little taste of what he talked about.

His message was on how we (as Christians) see the lost, that is, those that don't know and have a relationship with Jesus. Here's the analogy he used.

Picture you're driving to work and you come up on a huge car accident. Total bummer, right? There are 3 people that gather at these accidents. First are what we call "Looky Lous" or "Rubber Neckers". They are the ones who gather on the bridge above the accident and watch the scene or those in the cars that slow down just to see what happened but speed off when they pass. You can hear them saying or thinking, "Wow, that sucks. I'm sure glad it's not me! I bet they were talking on their cell phone." Then come the cops. They come to figure out whose fault it is and issue any necessary citations. Then come the EMTs. They don't care whose fault it was. They are just there to do whatever they have to to save and rescue the injured.

Now imagine that car accident as someone who doesn't know Jesus, and well, they're gonna go to hell. Are you a Looky Lou who clucks your tongue and says, "That's a bummer. Someone should really do something to help them." Or are you a cop who comes in with your righteous indignation saying, "Well, looks like you screwed up. Serves you right." Or are you part of the rescue? Do you come in, not caring how that person got in their situation, only wanting to save them?

Which one are you?

dumb kid and hyper

2008-10-03T07:06:00.003-05:00

Simon: Dad, there's a kid at school that we call, "Dumb Kid."

Skip: (horrified) SIMON, you should never call someone that!

Simon: But, Dad, that's what everyone calls him!

Skip: (attempts to explain to Simon that we just don't call kids dumb)

Simon: But, DAD, that's his name! That's what the teacher calls him!

Skip: (now he's mad...what preschool teacher calls a kid dumb?) Wait a minute...do you mean Duncan?

Simon: (pauses and thinks hard) Uh, yeah. Duncan.

________________________________________________________________

Simon: Dad, did you know there's a girl in my class that's hyper?

Skip: Simon, do you even know what that means?

Simon: Hmmmm...no. It's her name.

Skip: I think you mean Piper. Her name is Piper.

love and a kitchenaid mixer

2008-10-02T07:18:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I was at a women's retreat at Camp Lebanon. What a great weekend. The weather was gorgeous, the fall colors were in full swing and the company was sweet. The speaker was a real treat, too. It was my friend Susie Larson. One of the things she said that really stuck with me was about God's love for me. She touched on how powerful it can be to say, "You love me!" as if God were saying it right to me instead of me always saying, "I love you" to God. Try it. Sometimes we're more comfortable with saying "I love you" and not really embracing God reciprocating that love. Some of us think we're undeserving of that love so it's easier to not imagine him extending it to us. So this week as I drive to work I've been praying that God will show me in a big way each day how he loves me. And I'm looking for it. I haven't seen clouds in the form of crosses, but I have seen him in the little things. It's been really cool.

This morning I was reading Ephesians 3. I came upon verses 17-19. Here they are:

...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

It got me thinking. Because I made the decision to follow Christ, I have been rooted and established in that love. So that's a done deal. That's where many of us stop. But Paul urges us to grab a friend ("together with all the saints") and explore that love. See how far it goes. See how deep it is. Test it, take hold of it, fall into it, depend on it. Discover how intense it can be. That should be our response to the gift of his love.

Let me give you an example. This one might not apply to all of you (my multitudes of readers) but I think you'll get my drift. Let's say I gave my best friend a brand new Kitchenaid Mixer. Like the industrial one. Costs me $500 and it came at a great sacrifice for me. I present her this mixer and she's super excited. She can't believe I would do something like that for her! But instead of using the mixer she sets it on her counter and just looks at it. She shows it off when people come over and occasionally uses it to quick mix up a boxed cake or something easy. But she never really explores the potential of this incredible piece of machinery, this expression of love. She's happy with just having it. How disappointing for me. Here I was hoping that she would max this baby out. That she would come to me and say, "You have no idea what I did with that mixer today. I pushed it hard but it never let me down. My little hand mixer gave out on me but that Kitchenaid one never slowed me down. It tore right through that 9-grain whole wheat bread dough like a Mack Truck through fog." That's how it is with Christ's love. Our response to his love should be to max it out, to run with it, to embrace and explore it. He wants us to search the depths of it. That's what brings him pleasure!!

The end of verse 19 tells us what will result when we grasp this love: that we will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. WOW! Isn't that what we all want as Christians?? Don't we all, deep down in the depths of our souls, want the fullness of God in us? So many of us (me included) settle for less than fullness. We function on half full, or maybe even one quarter full. I don't know about you, but I want that fullness. And so I'm going to grasp how wide, long, deep and high that love is.

Maybe the Kitchenaid mixer doesn't make sense to you. Maybe for you it's a fully-loaded Jeep that is made for serious off-roading. But you only take it on the neighborhood roads. Or maybe it's a huge house that someone gives you but you only live in one room instead of inhabiting all 10 rooms.

Take your gift of love, grab your friend's hand, and push it to the limits. I imagine you'll find that there aren't any limits...

way to go government

2008-09-22T20:59:00.003-05:00

Today we received 2 pieces of certified mail from the Minnesota Department of Revenue. One was addressed to me, one to Skip. It was a letter notifying us that they would take the tax refund we got from the federal government this year and use it to pay the balance we owed for state taxes. Thanks, oh timely government of mine, for notifying me of something you did 6 months ago. Like I didn't already figure that one out.

Talk about tax dollars at work.

a new change of pace

2008-09-20T21:38:00.003-05:00

This week was really hellish. I had to work last weekend so pretty much I haven't had a break for nearly 2 weeks. I was long overdue! I learned some really tough lessons as well. I have had some difficulties with one coworker that had me worked up into a tizzy. I haven't fought that hard against my flesh, well, probably ever. I ruminated on what I really wanted to say to her, how mean I wanted to be. Yeah, I'm surprised too. That's not who I am. But I was so emotionally wrapped up in the situation that I couldn't think straight. My mouth got me in trouble more than once this week. I even got lectured by my boss, telling me that I was acting like a high schooler. OUCH. I thought that I was fighting for what was just and right. But I was really just making things worse. I saw how the other coworkers were being treated and I thought I was being the hero and shaking my first for justice. When really I was being a spoiled brat and very very unChristlike. Yeah, that pill was a hard one to swallow. Thankfully my reality check came in the form of my loving and amazing mom. Thanks for the gentle conk on the head to get me straight, mom. She prayed over and for me and that really set me free. I knew what I had to do. So I went into the office on Friday and apologized to this coworker for being such a big idiot. I wasn't sure how it would go but she melted as soon as I started talking. I realized that I hadn't forgiven her for the ways she offended me. So I did. Talk about sweet freedom! Our friendship was immediately restored as we both forgave and hugged. This was quite miraculous considering how I was plotting just 24 hrs before how I was going to get her fired and telling all the other coworkers about it. (I'm humiliated to admit that but you have to know how bad it was for me). I learned how important fighting injustice is (something God has called every Christian to do) as long as you are not actually the source of the problem. I also relearned how powerful forgiveness really is. It dissipates the bitterness and anger. i know that my relationship with this gal isn't going to be perfect. I'll probably be irritated with her over something next week. But the underlying bitterness is gone. I'm looking forward to being a solution to our issues and not the driving force. It's a darn good thing that my God is so patient with me as I learn these things.

Skip is now almost 2 weeks into his new job. He LOVES it. It uses so many of his God-given skills. He is so good with teenagers. They are drawn to him like a magnet (or should I say a MN mosquito to my bare, white arm). He knows how to tease just the way they like it. :-) He gets to do some teaching (one on one and small group) which he is just amazing at. We're transitioning pretty well to the new pace of life except for the housework. Yikes. I haven't had to carry that load for 9 months. Now that Skip is working just as much as I am (if not more), neither of us have the time or energy. With 2 dogs, 2 kids and 2 adults that's a lot of laundry and messes. It'll just have to wait, right? Blogging and Facebook is waaaaay more important, right? The one thing that has changed for me which I surprisingly like is my time in the morning with the kids. I used to leisurely get up, get dressed, drink the coffee, read my bible, etc. while Skip got the kids ready and off to school. Now that's my job since he's at school by 7:30am. But I'm loving my time with them. I don't have to be to work until 10am so I don't have to rush. I have more than enough time. I just don't like making lunches. :-)

Skip is away this weekend on a men's retreat at Trout Lake Camps (where we were at in August). I had NOTHING going on today. I didn't have to meet with anyone, be somewhere, do anything. It was awesome! I did what I wanted. and I got a ton of piddly things done around the house. Here's what I did today (in no particular order)

-Touched up some painting boo-boos on the ceiling
-Repainted Ella's dresser (not the whole thing)
-Weeded
-Mowed the front lawn
-Went to Northwestern Bookstore, WalMart, Once Upon a Child and Payless Shoes
-Sat outside with a glass of wine while the kids and dogs played
-Spent way too much time on Facebook
-Cleaned the bathrooms
-Washed my sheets
-Put all the laundry away
-Helped the kids clean their rooms
-Vacuumed
-Brushed the dog (Vinnie sheds like you wouldn't believe)
-Restained the leather couch upstairs (spots)
-Didn't feel like cooking or grocery shopping so we had McD's for dinner (Side note: I tried that new southern style chicken thing. It's a chik-fil-a knock off. Not bad but I definitely won't crave it like I do chik-fil-a, which we don't have here in MN).
-Read a gazillion books to the kids
-Studied...a little...ok like 15 minutes. It was putting me to sleep.

Whew. I think that's it. That's A LOT! I needed a really productive day. I wanted to paint my hallway but just didn't have enough paint in the bucket. Oh well. Another day. Tomorrow I am playing hooky from church and me and the kids are going to the Children's Museum (free day!). I'm really excited to have that time with them. If you are a mom you are probably wondering what my kids did all day while I was busy buzzing about. They seriously played together all day amazingly well. Remarkably well. they probably wouldn't have noticed if I'd left for an hour massage. (Don't worry, I didn't). It was great! And they weren't watching TV at all today. They were wrapped up in Ella's imaginary world of being mommies, babies, doctors with English accents. Both she and Simon were sporting some pretty good immitations. We need to get out of the house tomorrow; one day of good playing is about all I get before they decide they are mortal enemies.

The weather was gorgeous today but I'm lamenting about the leaves that are already piling up on my lawn. The leaves from my neighbor's tree. Oh well. The word on the street is that this winter will be really long and really cold. What, last year wasn't bad enough? I hope we have a longer Fall than the 2 week Spring and 6 week Summer this year. Sheesh.

Hey, things could be worse. I could still have 75 bats in my attic.

waiting no more

2008-09-10T08:55:00.003-05:00

I wrote this last May:

"This Fall we will need an additional source of income to makes ends meet. So how will God provide this? As we've seen before, the possibilities are boundless! What will it look like? Will it totally change our lives? Will we recognize that it's God? Whatever it may be, I am anticipating it. Not freaking out over it. Not worrying. Just actively looking for. Not anxiously awaiting. Just waiting."

Skip has been trying to find another part-time job for over a month now. He's tried a few avenues, things have come and gone but nothing really stuck. We never had that sense about anything until last Thursday night. We both were exhausted, worn from activity and the weight of responsibility. We talked until late into the night and then decided that we really needed to just pray. So we prayed long and hard, prayed that we would see what God is doing, that we would recognize his provision for us. When we finished I remembered a conversation I had earlier that day with my girlfriend Karen. Karen reminded me that our friend Amber has this great job working in the Mounds View school district (about 20 min from us). So Skip and I hopped onto the district website. Sure enough, there were oodles of jobs on there. The MV district pays $4-5/hr more than any district in the cities. Don't know why. Don't care. At midnight on Thursday Skip sent in his resume for a part-time, special ed class Para (aka teacher's assistant) at Irondale High School. By 10am on Friday, not more than 10 hours later, he gets a call for an interview. The interview was on Monday afternoon and he got a job offer yesterday!!! The pay is out of this world (ok, not that much, but you get the picture). The hours are 7:30-2pm Monday thru Friday. That means that I take the kids to school (since I don't have to be to work until 10am) and he will be home in time to get Simon from school at 2:45pm. How PERFECT is that? I mean seriously. He will have all school holidays, summers and weekends off, as well as paid time off. So we will have only a few random days that we'll need childcare for the kids. How COOL is my God? Totally cool. I never doubted that he would provide the perfect situation. And once we saw the job posting we both just knew in our spirits that this was it. I had the same feeling about my job 9 months ago. Skip starts his new job tomorrow!! I'm sure he'll update on what the job is like.

At the end of my post in May I said this, "However this form of provision is packaged, it will be oh-so-cool. And I will tell you all about it and we can praise God together!"

Was I right or was I right?

PRAISE GOD!

I got tagged

2008-09-08T21:37:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Sheryl for tagging me...

TEN YEARS AGO

Ten years ago I was still basking in the newness of being married only a month before. We were living on campus at Crown College (west of Minneapolis). Skip was attending Crown and I was just starting my first semester at the U of MN (my junior year of college). I was looking forward to my 21st birthday.

MY TO-DO LIST TOMORROW

1. Um, get out of bed
2. Read my bible
3. Go to work and inject insane amounts of antibiotics into IV bags
4. Maybe make a few rounds of chemotherapy
5. Eat my lunch
6. Come home from work
7. Eat whatever delightful concoction Skip has made for dinner
8. Watch the kids ride their bikes sans training wheels in the cul-de-sac
8. Read the biology textbook that I should be reading right now (procrastinating already!)
9. Fall asleep right after my head hits the pillow

SNACK THAT I ENJOY

ice cream ice cream ice cream

THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE

In no particular order . . .
1. pay off alllll our debt
2. fly my brother up to build me a deck
3. take a really fun vacation with the kids
4. finish painting the inside of my house
5. start up a foodshelf in my community that provides healthy, natural food and teaches people how to cook for free (I would want Sheryl's help with this one)
6. give my minivan to a family that needs one and get a hybrid
7. only buy organic food
8. buy a Dunn Bros franchise

PLACES I'VE LIVED

(in order)

Colorado Springs, CO
St. Bonifacius, MN
Colorado Springs, CO
St. Paul, MN
St. Bonifacius, MN
Anoka, MN
Escondido, CA
Temecula, CA
Mounds View, MN
Blaine, MN
Andover, MN

Whew. That was exhausting.

TAG, YOU'RE IT!

Shaunna
Kristie
Sarah

craggly skin

2008-09-08T17:39:00.002-05:00

When Simon can't think of the right word to describe something he makes one up.

Today he and I were in the canned tomatoes section of the grocery store (I'm making a double batch of my marinara. Mmmmmmm) and a really wrinkly, old lady walked by.

Simon: "Um, mom?"
Me: "Yes, Simon?"
Simon, "Um, if you have, um, like, craggly skin does that mean you are old?"
Me: laughing... "Why, yes, Simon. It does."

A young mother walked by just as he said this. She cracked up with me.

i am certifiable

2008-09-08T09:11:00.002-05:00

What a good start to the day...

"Congratulations! You have passed the August 18, 2008 - September 26, 2008 PTCE."

That means that I am now a certified Pharmacy Technician. I now can put CPhT behind my name! Ha!

Skip has a job interview this afternoon. It's a part time position that would work absolutely PERFECT with our family's schedule and financial needs. It just has a God feel to it. Please pray!

the faith of a child

2008-09-05T08:43:00.003-05:00

Last night I took Ella with me to the grocery store. I really enjoy grocery shopping...by myself. It's not too bad with me and Ella, but I really don't like going with Simon. He's all over the place, pulling the cart in every direction, asking for donuts, etc. We arrived at Aldi (our discount grocery store) about 7:40 and it closes at 8pm. So we did our shopping quick and left. I then drove over to Rainbow Foods to get the stuff that Aldi doesn't have (mostly produce). As I walked up to Rainbow I realized that I didn't have my grocery list. I gasped. Ella, sensing my horror, darted for the nearest "safe zone", i.e. the median in the parking lot. Not having my grocery list is like being lost on a deserted island without a map. I'm hopeless. I am a very strict meal planner so I can't just wing it. I knew exactly where my list was: sitting on the bagging counter at Aldi. Knowing that Aldi is now closed, I wondered if it was even worth the drive over. Ella was in her high anxiety mode, "Oh NO, mom, this is terrible." I told her that it wasn't that big of a deal, while inside I was freaking out. She said, "Mom, if you pray to God and ask him to help you get into Aldi then he will help you." She was absolutely convinced that it would work. I struggled with this statement for a few moments. What I know about God is that he cares. But I also know that he doesn't always help us out of our pickles, especially ones that really don't mean much. Sometimes we are just out of luck. It's life. But I didn't want to squelch her faith. I also didn't want her to be disappointed with God. What if he doesn't work the way we want him to in this situation? I wanted to protect her little heart. So I said, "Ok, Ella, let's pray." So I prayed that God would enable us to get into Aldi to get our grocery list. Seemed like such a silly prayer. I pulled right up to the door and walked in front of the automatic doors. Nothing moved. Now you have to understand that this is a very small store. And there were only 2 employees there when I checked out. So the likelihood of seeing someone was pretty small. I peered around and saw the employee that checked me out standing in a doorway across the store. I banged on the door, hoping that she would hear me through the 2 sets of big glass doors. To my amazment, she turned around. I made some gestures in hopes that she would understand that I needed help. She looked at me a little funny and walked over. She got me the list. When I turned around I could see Ella in the van jumping up and down in her seat. She was ecstatic. She cheered and shouted when I got back in the car. I thanked her for giving me the idea to pray. I told her that God answered her prayer.

I have so much to learn about trusting God, especially with the small stuff. I have become so self-sufficient in many ways, pushing God aside, saying, "I can do it myself." This was a good lesson for me.

the first day

2008-09-03T20:39:00.005-05:00

Here in Minnesota the kids don't start school until the day after Labor Day. Why so late? I'm pretty sure it's because half of the state of MN is involved in some way with the State Fair.

Ella started 1st grade yesterday. It's soooo weird for me to not be home while she's there, running out the door to pick her up at 4pm, apologizing for being 5 minutes late. It feels even weirder for her to go every day, all day. She got the teacher we wanted. She's the most vibrant, charismatic woman I know. Full of spunk. Just what Ella needs. You'll have to ask Skip to do his impersonation of her. It's dead on (and very funny). Every year we take pictures of Ella on her first day of school. So here is a little montage. The greatest difference is from Kindergarten to first. WOW. Ella is the kind of kid that doesn't like to talk about her day. That's one way (of very few) that she and I are different. I have just had to accept the fact that no news is good news for Ella. When I ask her what her favorite part of the day was I usually get, "I don't remember," or "Lunch."

This is her first day of preschool when she was 3 years old. We had just moved to MN about 6 months earlier. Wow does she look like me.

This is Ella's second year of preschool. A different house. She was 4 in this picture. Simon was 2.

This was Ella's first day of Kindergarten. She was 5. Mom actually forgot to take the picture in the morning (it was one of those stressful mornings) so this was actually after school. Yet another house. Classic Ella smile.

WHOA. Big change. This is the first day of 1st grade. Somebody is growing up!! Nana curled her hair all pretty.

Simon also started school today. He's in an extended day preschool program at a local church. It's a phenomenal program that we're very excited about. He's gone from 9-2:45 3 days a week. He LOVES it. Here's his first day of school picture. Skip had a nice collared shirt for him to wear. You can only imagine the tantrum that ensued. Guess who won. Yep, Spiderman.

We had a wonderful time with Skip's parents here last weekend. Probably the best visit yet. I keep saying that. But it's true. We are enjoying their company more and more as the years go by. That's a very good thing. :-) True to form, Marilyn and I painted. I am super excited. The pics are dark but I thought you might enjoy! We used the same orange paint from the living/kitchen as the background for the front window. And then we used the tan that was in the entry and brought it upstairs. I love it!!

update on pharmacy school

2008-08-28T17:47:00.002-05:00

For those that are interested in the least bit, here's the schoop on me and pharmacy school.

After much deliberation, prayer, hand wringing and whatnot, I have decided to wait to formally apply for the 2010 school year. Yeah, I know. That's like TWO YEARS away. Only it's not. The process must start so early that I need to get things lined up now. I have to take an entrance exam called the PCAT. I'm planning to take that in January 2009. I was going to wing it and try to take it this October but I think 7 weeks to review all the organic chemistry, physics and calculus I took 10 years ago isn't enough time. It's an expensive test and I don't want to jeopardize my chances of doing well. Who would have thought that applying to pharmacy school could be so expensive? It's $200 to apply, then the exam is another $130, plus $50 per school that I send my scores to. I don't want to pay the dumb tax and not be totally prepared. I will apply to 2 schools, the University of MN and Creighton University in Omaha (it's an online program). Either would be a good place for me.

This hasn't been an easy decision to make. I don't WANT to wait. But it will be so much better for our family. Simon will be in 1st grade so we won't have to worry about childcare. I will have that much more work experience. I am seriously considering getting a very part time job at the new Walgreens that is going in right down the street from us. I want the experience in a retail pharmacy. That might be my field of choice (as opposed to a hospital).

Just thought some of you might like to know where things are at.

a new do

2008-08-28T08:43:00.004-05:00

My dear friend Karen gave me the best gift a girl could ever ask for: a haircut. I haven't had my hair cut in about 2 years because the last one was, in my mind, a disaster. I have had too many bad haircuts from Costcutters, Fantastic Sams, Great Clips, etc. that I was determined to not go there again. But the cost of a decent cut has been out of my reach. Karen came to my rescue and scheduled me with her stylist. Karen has really really cute hair so I wasn't afraid.

Here's the new do...it's still long but she gave me tons of layers and showed me how to scrunch and make it look a little wavier. And she explained that the style gets better on day 2 or 3, meaning I shouldn't wash my hair every day. I've heard that before but haven't been brave enough to try it. Today I can see what she means. Even after sleeping on my mop of a head of hair, it doesn't look all that bad. So off I go...

bacon on a stick

2008-08-24T18:08:00.002-05:00

What a great weekend I had.

My parents got in late Thursday night. It is sooooo good to have them here. It just feels like we're a complete family. Remember they lived with us for 3 months last year so it feels very natural to have them around. Besides that, the kids adore them. They are eating lots of Dots and doing many Dot Dances. My parents took the kids to Como Zoo on Friday while Skip and I worked. They had quite a good time, eating more candy and sugary things than they have ever had in their lives. (What are grandparents for, right?). Both kids got their own huge spiraly lollipop, you know the kind that you always wanted as a kid but mom always said no. Here's the aftermath of that.

Friday night we had Red Robin for dinner. What could be better? My pharmacy technician certification exam was Saturday morning at 8am. I was so ready to get that bad boy over. It went well...I think. I don't find out for 2-3 weeks if I passed. There were a lot of questions that I didn't expect and didn't study for. Oh well. I'm pretty sure I did fine. There was a gal in the testing room that kept whispering, "Oh no...oh Jesus help me...oh God please help me..." Obviously she wasn't as prepared as she should have been. Hehehe.

After that we made our way to the MN state fair. What a blast!!! The weather was absolutely perfect. The crowds were unbelievable. Just a sea of people everywhere you looked (about 170,000 of them). We ate our way from one end to the other. Pork chops, corn dogs, scones, ice cream, a big ol' thick piece of bacon, cream puffs, mini donuts. It was awesome! The kids and I went down the huge slide on a burlap bag. They have microphones hanging over the slide so you can hear people's reactions. I guess I was right under them and so every time I would go down the next bump I would say, "Wh-OA!" Everyone within the Metro area heard me. Ha! Then my dad, me and the kids did the Tilt-a-Whirl. Or Tilt-a-Hurl as Skip calls it. I love spinny rides. Ella and I sat together and had a great time, laughing hysterically. Simon, well, he didn't hurl but it sure didn't go well for him. Near the end he leaned over to my dad and said, "I'm DONE with this stupid thing!" Then he did some pirate ship ride and, well, we were done with rides after that. Ella is such a thrill seeker. She will do anything and everything. Too funny.

The kids hit a major milestone on Friday night. Both of them took off on their bikes with no training wheels! At the same time! They are doing great and I'm happy that I didn't have to teach them. I'm not exactly the most patient teacher. I will definitely NOT be the one to teach them how to drive.

Church was awesome. Skip preached (always a treat). And then we went out for a great lunch. My aunt, uncle and cousin (the Simons) came over for dinner and we had a great time with them. Then Skippy and I got to have a quick date night, thanks to my parents. Just DQ and some perusing at Target.

It's Thursday already and we're gearing up for my in-laws to arrive tonight. They'll be here through Tuesday, which is Ella's first day of 1st grade! Simon will start preschool on Wednesday. Yikes!

going green

2008-08-20T19:52:00.002-05:00

If I had a lot of money I would do everything I could to make my house and life green. I'd buy all natural and organic everything.

Since I don't have a lot of money, I'm making changes here and there. Nearly every time I go grocery shopping I buy one or two of those cool reusable grocery bags that are everywhere. I have about 8 now. I even got 5 cents off at Target for using my own bag the other day. Sweet! They are actually WAY better to carry groceries in.

I just tried another thing today. I love those disposable swiffer dusters but they are rather expensive. My aunt, who cleans homes for a living, says that she uses squares of fleece for dusting. I went to JoAnn Fabric today at lunch and purchased a large strip of fleece for less than $1.50. I tried it out today and it works AMAZING. Doesn't snag, doesn't lose the dust. And best of all, it's washable and reusable! Be sure to get the thinner fleece and not the super fluffy kind so you can avoid snags. The square worked really well to wipe off pictures and all those cute little Precious Moments I keep on my piano. (Gag, I really don't have those).

I am now using an all-natural bathroom cleaner. It's pretty cheap and I don't even have to use gloves. I like that. And I use vinegar and water to clean my floors. Makes them super shiny.

What are you doing to be green? Got any really good garden or cleaning tips?

she said what?

2008-08-17T18:02:00.002-05:00

We all know that kids repeat the things you say, especially the ones you don't want them to. Well, Ella is using some phrases that she has heard here and elsewhere. Here are a few:

When she hurts herself she now says, "Ouch! That really smarts!" I've always found that phrase awkward. It doesn't make sense. At any rate, I asked Ella where she heard it. "Heidi" was all she said. Hmmm...(no harm done, H. I think it's hilarious!)

Today Skip and the kids were hanging out in the front yard while I was shivering in the air conditioning inside, studying my little brains out. They moved to the shaded back yard because, according to Ella, "It's too freaking hot in the sun." Oops. My bad. I guess I need to choose a milder word.

Skip just said "toad piss" in front of the kids. We'll see if that one gets repeated...

sometimes life is dry and parched

2008-08-17T07:54:00.003-05:00

It's been an interesting week. You must see Skip's blog about our bat problem. Yes. I said BAT. Monday the bats will be permanently uninvited from our home. I was grossed out by the box elder bugs this year. Nothing compares to flying rodents. We counted them the other night as they left. 11. I think the Batman overestimated. (He said probably 50!)

Yesterday my friend Kendra invited us to see a live dress rehearsal of a Sesame Street production. It was a free event. Normally these things cost big-time bucks so we jumped at the chance. I would give it 3 stars out of 5. The costuming was outstanding and the set was pretty cool. But the characters voices were turned up so loud they became distorted. It took major concentration for ME to follow the story line. I'm sure my kids didn't get it. Half way through Simon kept saying, "Let's leave! I want to go home!" Ok maybe my kids were a little old for this experience. We've never been able to take the kids to a live show like this so the experience was good. I'm just glad I didn't have to plunk down $200 for it!

We're in a little bit of a funk at home. It's always hard to come back from a week of vacation. Life just picked up where we left off, only we had slowed down while on vacation, and are struggling to meet that harried pace again. The summer is ending and school will be starting in just a few weeks. My "Summer Projects" list on the fridge is only half done. State Fair is around the corner, which for those non-Minnesotans, is about the biggest event of the year. I'm already mapping out my eating plan. :-) My parents will be here next Thursday for a short weekend visit. I can't WAIT. It's been 8 months since we've seen them. And then the next weekend my in-laws will be here. I love having our family stay with us. At the same time, I'm cramming for my upcoming pharmacy technician certification exam. That takes place next Saturday morning. I don't have to get certified for my job but it sure pads the ol' resume. I'm not too worried about passing, I just want to be prepared. Lots of formulas and laws to memorize.

What is really causing the funk around here is more about the anticipation I blogged about several months ago. Skip needs more work. He is currently looking for another part-time job (he's only part time at the church) that pays really well and has very flexible hours and works with our complicated schedule. Seems pretty unrealistic, right? There are several possibilities right now but none have given us that, "YES! This is it!" feeling we got back in January when our lives were consumed with finding new jobs. The clock is ticking and we're coming up to a deadline. I know God knows this deadline. And I know that he has something in the works. And I know that he is aware of our need. Sometimes it's just hard to wait. So please pray for Skip. He's really burdened with this right now and he's having a tough time.

To make matters more complicated, we're experiencing a little bit of a dry spell in our relationship. It's just the natural ebb and flow of marriage. But it's nonetheless hard. Yes we had a week of camp where we were pretty much together all the time. But that wasn't "us" time. Everything we did or said was completely centered on the kids. And the only time we didn't have to attend to the kids (aka bedtime) he was off for a chapel session until late. So we're feeling disconnected right now. Normally if one of us is down the other is in a place to pull the down party out of the funk. But we're both kinda wallowing so we're kind of looking at each other like, "Now what do we do?" You could pray about that.

oops, my bad

2008-08-10T16:13:00.006-05:00

This morning I went to wipe Ella's mouth with a hand towel after she had brushed her teeth. I wiped a little too hard and took her tooth with me. Oops. I was horrified because I could feel and hear the tooth tear out of her mouth. GROSS. Ella and I were just in the midst of a rather heated fight so I probably rubbed her face a little hard. I immediately felt terrible. She was speechless. We both just stared at each other. Instead of tears she smiled. Whew. I lucked out. She's thrilled as can be that her tooth is out. She showed it to everyone at church today.

So when I was of the tooth-losing age we lived here in MN. And at the time Gary Gaetti (Guy-etti) was a player for the MN Twins. We were huge Twins fans so we adopted Gary Gaetti as our tooth fairy. We'd leave our teeth under our pillows at night and my dad would write wonderfully creative stories from Gary Gaetti Tooth Fairy, telling of his adventures with the Twins. It was so much fun. I am pretty sure there are a few of those letters saved in my secret stash. Or maybe mom has them. At any rate, Ella doesn't buy into anything magical like Santa, the Easter Bunny, or tooth fairies. I was talking with her tonight about how the tooth fairy will come and bring her some money. She looks me square in the eye, totally serious, and says, "Mom. The tooth fairy is just you and dad. There is no such thing as a real tooth fairy." Like, duh, mom, how could you be so dense? Like, duh, like I'm so dumb as to think there's really a fairy? I tried to joke with her about it but she wouldn't have it. She's such a black and white kid. She definitely sees things as either being fair or unfair, right or wrong. Interesting.

She's got 2 more loose teeth on top. I was thinking of doing $1 for the first tooth, $2 for the second, and so on. But if she looses them quick I might have to take out a loan. Ha!

trout lake camp

2008-08-09T14:09:00.011-05:00

We're back! True to Crust form, we left camp a little early. Instead of leaving this morning after breakfast, we packed up and came home late last night. It was so good to sleep in my own bed. We had an incredible trip, one that we plan on repeating many summers in the future.

Trout Lake Camps is in Pine River, MN, which is about 30 minutes outside of Brainerd, for you MN folks. It's about 2.5 hours from door to cabin. They have about 300 acres of forested land that is dotted with fields, cabins, huge buildings, barns, and more. I feel really inadequate describing it so I'll just stop and post some pics.

Here are some highlights...

Caught this gem on the way up. It's definitely a midwestern thing to not be too self-promoting so they settled for "Pretty Good Shopping" to describe this quaint strip mall. (See the sign in the middle of the pic). Sure wouldn't want to disappoint in case you were looking for "Really Good Shopping."

We spent way less time at the beach than I expected. Skip and I tossed around the football while the kids played with the kick boards. They collected snail shells. Mmm. That was a nice smell when we unpacked the beach bag.

Had a BLAST fishing in a little rowboat. Kids caught over 10 each between the 2 trips out. Mostly sunnies and perch. Fish are so stupid. Ella caught half of them on a bare hook.

Give me pouty, Simon, pouty. Perfect. Great shot.

Skip, Simon and Ella all did the 35-ft indoor climbing wall. Skip reached the top, Ella got up about half way before she looked down and freaked. Simon got up about 6 ft.

They have a horse corral with about 15 horses. They also have a little petting zoo. There were rabbits, a few little lambs, ducks and chickens. I like rabbits about as much as I like horses. It's the big teeth. I literally became overwhelmed from anxiety when I approached the horses. Both kids were dying to ride them. I could never be a farmer.

This is one of few pictures where Simon isn't impersonating the lead singer from Kiss.
We walked these roads from where we stayed (in one campground) to where we spent most of our time ( a different camp about a 15 min walk away). The grounds were thick forests that were absolutely breathtaking. Wild raspberry bushes lined the roads so anytime we were out walking we ate handfuls of the sweet little berries. YUM. We saw lots of wildlife, including several baby deer and their mamas.
I don't have a lot of patience for mini-golf. So when Skip and I were dating I invented "Jungle Ball." Basically you act like an animal whacking your ball all around the green, trying to get it in the hole as quickly as possible. The kids loved it!

My absolute favorite thing we did was canoeing. The camp is set on a huge lake, lined with thick forests, with lots of little "rivers" leading to different lakes. One of those rivers (not really a river but a narrow part of the lake) they call Hidden River. You can't see it from the shore. It's thick with lily pads and can get quite shallow. But it's a narrow, absolutely gorgeous, peaceful place. I have never felt more peaceful. And I had 2 bickering kids in the canoe, so you can only imagine what this place was like! Here are a few pics of that adventure. We even saw a bald eagle fly over us! Skip and I decided that we are going to buy a canoe this year. There are so many places to canoe in our area. And I just loved being on the water.
We had to go through the little tunnel in the middle of the picture below. Of course we had to yell as floated through, like we always do in tunnels.

There were so many lily pads and these gorgeous flowers all over!

My little Peanut!

Skip spent 2-3 weeks preparing for his nightly chapel sessions. And after the first night it became very clear to him that God wanted him to put it aside and He would give him the topic for the night. That was a little stressful for Skip as he had to spend a few hours a day preparing for that evening. But it was such a cool thing. Those kids really encountered God this week. I spent a LOT of time reading (no surprise there). I read 2.5 books and wished I had brought another 2. I only brought the first vampire book (Twilight by Stephenie Meyer), thinking I wouldn't even come close to finishing the 500 pages. I read it in a little over 24 hours. Sheesh. It was reeeeeally good. And I polished off another book and a half. Did lots of laying around and resting, naps, crossword puzzles, and walking. It was really nice. Kids spent some time in the craft shack making tie-dye shirts and necklaces. The weather was probably the most perfect weather I have experienced in all my life. Mid 70s all week, sunny, no rain, not too humid. It was amazing. They fed us well (I think I gained a few pounds) and we had a great place to stay. It was like a hotel with 2 adjoined rooms and our own bathroom. Very comfortable except for the sulfur-smelling water. Whew. That was nasty. The kids almost couldn't stand it.

Totally awesome summer vacation. Ella will be old enough to be a camper next summer so Skip will probably go up and speak at the same time she's there. I'm sure Simon and I will join them.

Yesterday was our 10th anniversary. It was a really great day. All day the campers were yelling, "Happy Anniversary!" There were 120 kids at our camp (at least that many at the other camp) so that's a lot of well wishers. Skip stood up at dinner and made a wonderful tribute to me in front of the kids. Of course we had to stand and kiss in front of everyone. It was a great way to celebrate a decade of being married. Last night on the drive home (at midnight) Skip asked me what my favorite part of the last 10 years has been. I told him it was the fun we have together. We are always laughing, joking, ribbing each other, trying to get the other person to laugh, etc. We have a lot of fun as a couple and as a family. It hasn't been an easy 10 years, but it has been good. Very very good. I'm so glad I married you, Skippy!

yea yea yea, i know it's been awhile

2008-08-03T07:30:00.002-05:00

Ok so I know it's been 2 weeks since my last blog. And it'll be another week. We're leaving today for a week for our vacation. Woo hoo! We're going to Trout Lake Bible Camp (abt 3 hrs from here). Skip will be the camp pastor for the junior high camp. We get to tag along and stay in the lodge and do all the fun camp stuff. It's a sweet place with a ton of cool campy things to do - lake swimming, fishing, boating, horses, zip line, climbing wall, hiking, etc. It's supposed to be in the 70s and very nice. I should be packing right this second as we're leaving in a few hours. But, alas, I am blogging.

No internet, but there's a cell tower! So feel free to call me. I intend on spending a lot of time on the beach reading. Thanks to Karen for the vampire love stories. Should be interesting. :-)

Here are a few gems from my kids to leave with you.

The other day Ella caught Vinnie (the new dog) lifting his leg on the carpet. She screamed for me to come. I was expressing frustration and confusion as to why he would do such a thing since he's trained. Ella said, "I wonder if he didn't like the color of the floor." Never would have thought of that one.

I was sitting with the kids after dinner saying things like, "I love you as much as we can fill our house with marbles." It started out as a tender moment, but since we Crusts can never pass up an opportunity to turn things into a joke, Simon proceeds with this: "Ella, I love you as big as I can fart." Well, son, that must be a whole heckuva lot, then.

it's about time

2008-07-15T22:28:00.004-05:00

First of all, this is my 101st post. Woohoo!

Second of all, it's about stinking time. Last fall I transplanted some day lilies on the side of my house. Day lilies all over the area are bursting with gorgeous color. Mine are, well, nice and leafy. Until today. I noticed the flower bud a week or so ago and have been anticipating it's explosion of color. I had no idea what it would look like. Isn't it just breath-taking?

The only problem can be seen in the photo below. It's the only stinking flower. There are no other ones popping up, ready to explode with color and beauty. I find that very strange especially since the lilies on the other side of the house that I planted this spring have several buds that are ready to unleash their beauty. I don't get it.

I wonder if there's a message in this. What could I learn from this? Any thoughts? How is this like my life right now? Hmmm...

what i love about simon

2008-07-13T20:26:00.002-05:00

Last Friday night (Ella's birthday) I snuggled with Ella and told her the story of her birth. Her eyes were like saucers. She smiled, she laughed, she got scared (when I told her how she was 6 weeks early and she wasn't supposed to be born yet). I told her all the things that I love about her and how proud I am of her. She's incredibly thoughtful and caring. She's creative. She's beautiful. She's smart and goofy.

I decided to snuggle with my boy and tell him what I love about him. Every time I go in there he starts giggling. So I snuggled in and he was giggling like crazy. I said, "Simon, do you know what I love about you?" I was ready to just shower him with blessings and positive reinforcement. Without even a moment's delay, he said, "Worms." He burst out laughing. I burst out laughing. That is what I love about Simon. He's not just funny. He tries to make me laugh. He's just like his dad that way. And that is probably the thing I love most about Skip. Simon's going to be a wonderful husband someday.

it is finished

2008-07-13T19:20:00.004-05:00

I thought I couldn't do it. I started the process of sanding down my dining table last weekend and it was going terrible. The varnish (the clear coat) was so gummed up and gross that it was just making a mess of my sander and gumming up my sand paper. I was extremely discouraged. I put the project aside last weekend and waited a few days. I even contacted a woodworker I found on Craigslist to get some advice. (He didn't call me back for several days). I decided that I was just going to get a furniture stripper and take the varnish and the stain off the table and start from scratch. This was NOT my original plan. So I took one of my dining room chairs to Ace Hardware and picked out a stain. I flagged down an old guy and asked him if he had ever refinished furniture before. He had. (I almost kissed his feet right there). He told me about this miracle product that dissolves the varnish off without stripping the stain. It was $12.50 a container and it was a harsh chemical. But I didn't care. I practically skipped out of the store. Well, as well as someone who is carrying a heavy chair can skip. I went home and immediately put the product to the test. It was amazing. All that sanding was just a waste of time. I went through a whole container on just half of the table. So Skip ran and got me another one. I was only able to finish the table top, excluding the 2 leaves. Over the last week I have applied 3 coats of polyurethane. It's not perfect but considering I thought I was up a creek without a paddle last weekend, I'm very pleased. I put the final coat on today and will be ready to use the table tomorrow for dinner! I'm so proud of myself. The pictures aren't great, but I just had to show my end result!

firing squad

2008-07-07T21:57:00.006-05:00

Last Thursday we had 14 children 5 and under at our house for an hour and a half. The ONLY reason I would ever do that is for a special occasion. Or if I wanted to torture myself. Since I'm not in the torture business, I opted for the special occasion: Simon's 4th birthday. I'm a minimalist when it comes to birthday parties. I didn't decorate. Simon and I made cupcakes. We played a few games. I don't send huge bags of candy and trinkets home. We had a great time! All the kids want to do is play anyway. So we did. I bought a large water gun for each kid (Dollar Tree!). One of the best games had the kids lined up like a firing squad in front of a shaving cream-laden Skip. At my word the kids squirted the shaving cream off his face. It was hilarious! They were so serious about this game.

This is why I don't spend $30 on a cake at Costco. They all licked off the icing and left the cake.

This game was pretty cool. I got a shower curtain (Dollar Tree!) and Skip drew the Spiderman face and spiders on it in permanent marker. Then we colored them with water-based markers. When the kids squirted the drawings the color dripped down! We just dried it off and recolored for round 2! I intended on having teams and races but it was just easier to let them at it at once.

The Birthday Band of Brothers (and one little sister). Notice there is only one child making a goofy face. I wonder who he belongs to. Poor child must be raised by clowns.

Happy Birthday Simon!

the best of the 80s

2008-07-05T21:04:00.002-05:00

Who's brother is this? Yep, it's mine. I hardly recognized him. He and his girl Noelle had an 80s party and they totally rocked it. I'm so proud (sniff sniff). Way to represent the decade of your birth, bro.

what did you do today?

2008-07-05T13:05:00.004-05:00

Remember how Ella said this looked terrible?

Not anymore! I dug up the grass and dropped in more Craigslist rocks. I just need to fill it in with river rock, which I will find on CList. Doesn't it look nice? Totally transforms the back of the house. The thing I love about this rock is that it's totally not perfect. So it doesn't matter if it isn't lined up perfectly. So instead of spending hours lining them up, I spent about 20 minutes. Gotta love that.

Skip aerated the lawn today while the kids played in the pool. It was pretty hot outside but we had a nice breeze to cool us off. The dogs played like maniacs outside. Running, chasing, running, chasing. I have never seen Ruby play more or be happier in her life. We need that positive stuff because last night was rough with Vinnie (Skip says his name needs to be spelled with an "ie" and not "y"). The guy who brought him over said that he was crate trained. So we put him in Ruby's crate last night and he flipped out. Barking, whining, clawing, chewing. So we let him out and he proceeded to lift his leg on a bag. GROSS. Skip ended up sleeping in the guest room with the dog. He finally calmed down. It didn't help that it was the worst day of the year for dogs being the 4th of July. Only a street over they were letting off the big fireworks that shook out house when they exploded. It finally ended around midnight. We were about ready to send Vinnie back home today but realized that he needed a little more time to adjust. So we'll see. I'm still not convinced it will be a good fit for us. He's seriously a great dog, though. Super friendly, pretty calm (for a 1 year old Boxer), and plays really well with the kids and Ruby. The jury is still out.

What did you do today?

new additions

2008-07-04T17:35:00.005-05:00

We have 2 new additions to our home today. One is permanent, one is possibly permanent. The possibly permanent one is Vinny. He's a one-year old, brindle Boxer. He came over today to stay with us for the weekend. We're seeing if he fits our family. The pics aren't great. It's hard to get a dog to smile. :-) Vinny is somewhat of a rescue operation. His first owner didn't really love him the way he deserved. That person's brother took Vinny in and is trying to rehome him. It almost seems too perfect. He's housebroken, gets along with other dogs, is good around kids, house trained, in great condition, friendly, doesn't bark or jump AND he's free...we'll see. So far so good except for the one thing that boy dogs do that I don't like--marking. Gross.

The second and definitely permanent addition is the treadmill you see below. Picked this up today in Andover about 3 minutes from our house. Free. Also from Craigslist. Man I love that website. Just had to do a little furniture rearranging. I love change so that was fun.

over my head

2008-07-04T12:24:00.003-05:00

Why did I think I could do this? I think I may have gotten myself into quite the pickle. My dining room table needed to be sanded down and re-varnished (just the poly). It's a beautiful piece of furniture that really means a lot to me. So I've been planning this for about a year. And I decided to tackle it this weekend since I have 3 days. I got some tips from my grandfather (who is quite the woodworker). So I bought my supplies and started last night. And I think I'm going to wreck this thing. I didn't think it would be that complicated but I'm wrong. I am really disgusted right now with the whole project and need to contemplate whether or not to let a professional finish it. It's not turning out the way I hoped. And that, in and of itself, is extremely difficult for me to deal with. Ugh.

keeping the sabbath part 2

2008-07-04T08:15:00.002-05:00

Awhile back I posted about keeping the Sabbath. I had decided that since observing the Sabbath was in the 10 commandments, it was something that I needed to do, that it was a command from God that I better follow. Good, right? Unfortunately I fell into the same trap that most people do. The trap of legalism. It wasn't long after I made my decision to stay away from work on Sunday that I found myself looking down my nose at those who didn't. I would say to friends (out loud or to myself), "Well, if you just observe the Sabbath you will be obeying God and he will bless you." True. But it's not always about doing. It's about the heart.

For the last 6 months I've been meeting regularly with a girlfriend of mine. We've been using this really easy Bible study method (I'll detail later). I have been more consistent with reading my Bible these last months than ever in my life. It's been awesome. I started Colossians the other day. When I got to Colossians 2: 14-17 I stopped.

Here's the text: "...having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (italics mine).

For all this time I have assumed that the 10 commandments weren't included in the "old law" (or written code) but something we are still accountable to today. Yes, they are good moral guidelines, but by holding them a little higher and telling people that these are the rules by which they must live, I was falling victim to legalism. In addition, the text clearly states that I should not let others judge me nor should I judge others for choosing to or not choosing to celebrate/observe something. That was pretty convicting. The most important (and non-negotiable) law to live by was outlined pretty clearly by Christ: To love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And to love your neighbor like yourself. Legalism was defeated on the cross. Rule-following is no longer a way of life for Christians. It may result as an outpouring of our love for Christ, but it is not how we love Christ.

***The study we do has 4 parts. You take a chapter and read it 4 times. The first time you write down anything NEW. It could be something you didn't know or notice before. A new concept, a new character trait of God or Jesus. The second time you read it you write down examples of GOD'S GOODNESS. Things he did or said that showed mercy, goodness, love, etc. The third time you read it you write down all TRUTH or PRINCIPLES. For example, from Colossians 2 I would write "God defeated rule-following and legalism to the cross." Remember that truth is nourishment to your soul. The final step is APPLICATION. Write down how you can specifically apply what you learned in that chapter to your life. That's my favorite part.

quotable quotes

2008-06-30T07:52:00.002-05:00

Skip and I regularly correct the kids when they mispronounce a word. One of the big ones for Ella is when she says "fer" instead of "for". So she's supposed to be in quiet time on Saturday. She comes upstairs while Skip and I are talking. I ask her what she needs. She says, "First, Mom, I need to tell you something about what you were talking about with Dad." (She's forever being nosy about what he and I talk about so I figure she's going to make a comment about that.) She says, without missing a beat, "You said 'fer' instead of 'for'. Can I have a snack?" They don't miss anything, do they?

Skip and I are sitting on our swing last night as the kids get the last bit of energy out at the end of the day yesterday. We were commenting on how Ella has a nice little shaped body, muscular and thin.

Me: "I just wish I was thin like that."
Skip: "Don't we all?"
Me: "Don't we all think I was thin like that? Gee, thanks, honey."

Of course we both know he wasn't referring to me but I just had to give him a hard time about that. I told him that I was going to blog about that comment and that he was going to get crap from my readers. So, readership, lay it on.

do you know what time it is?

2008-06-25T22:26:00.003-05:00

I don't. I lost my watch. I'm so mad. I love that watch. Let me know if God shows you where it is in a dream. He's been known to do that, ya know.

two weeks later

2008-06-24T22:01:00.002-05:00

It has been almost 2 weeks since I started thinking about this pharmacy school idea. And I just can't stop. At this point, I'm pretty much convinced that this is where God is leading me. I have poured over the info on the website and been praying hard. I have been completely overwhelmed with support from family and friends. My mom said that when I talked about getting a job as a pharmacy tech 6 months ago she thought to herself that I would make a good pharmacist. She never said anything. Of course even if she had I wouldn't have believed her. :-) The affirmation I've received has been so good for me. Very encouraging. And of course my dear college friend Christine, who graduated from the U of MN pharmacy program a few years ago, has been telling me for years that I would love the profession. Now she's saying, "Yeah, I told you so!"

The big issue for me right now is timing. I have a small window to apply for the Fall 2009 program. And I mean very small window. Between now and Sept/Oct I need to take an economics class, get my application and references in and also take the PCAT (a standardized test like the MCAT for medical school). That's a lot of ducks to line up in a row. My pharmacist friend Andrea is telling me to go for it because I have no assurance that I'll even get into the program, much less the first time I apply (there are thousands of applicants for 108 positions). Skip and I have talked about 2010 and it makes the most sense logically. But I also know that sometimes God wants us to trust him with timing, not just in our ability to plan things out perfectly. And I also know that I am a particularly impatient person. I don't want to wait until 2010. We could definitely use some prayer in this area so that Skip and I are united and that we make the best decision for our family.

I'm also frantically looking for financial assistance online. Scholarships, grants, work programs, etc. Anyone that wants to give me free money for school is getting my attention right now. :-) I know that God will provide the money we need for me to go to school if this is his plan for me. It's an expensive program though!

So that's what I've been thinking. It's 2 weeks later and I'm still excited. That's a pretty good sign.

i'm married to a celebrity

2008-06-15T16:48:00.003-05:00

Ok so he's not exactly a celebrity, but he was in the paper today! A week or so ago he was interviewed by a reporter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. She was doing a piece for Father's Day on daddy bloggers. Check out the link!

St. Paul Pioneer Press "Daddy Bloggers"

getting down and dirty

2008-06-15T16:33:00.004-05:00

Like Mother's Day, Father's Day is a day for dads to do whatever they want. And for Skip that included a long afternoon nap. As he was settling into dreamy land, I took all of about 5 seconds to change into my grungy gardening gear and head outside. I spent the next two hours in sweet outdoor bliss. The weather was absolutely perfect. Sunny, not humid, not too hot, a nice breeze to keep me cool. It was more than I could have asked for.

Earlier this week I ventured down to St. Paul and dug up 2 huge boxes and 3 bags full of day lilies, ferns, hosta and snow on the mountain. A delightful older woman was changing the look of her garden and she let me take as much as I wanted for free. (I love Craigslist!) So I planted 5-6 plants on the side of the house under Ella's window and finished off the landscaping there with flagstone and river rock. (All free CList leftovers from last year).

Then I planted about 16 more day lilies along the back side of my house under Simon's window, ferns to hide the air conditioner and hosta here and there. Ella came around the corner and saw the plants and exclaimed, "Mom, that looks terrible!" Gee thanks. I know it looks like crap. I'm not done yet. But thanks.

I yanked up a dead rose bush (casualty of a brutal winter) and trimmed back some unruly bushes in the front. I have missed being at home and gardening whenever I want. It's so therapeutic for me. I work in silence and love to watch the faces of my family when I show them around when I'm done (except for the aforementioned comment by Ella). This year I decided that I wasn't going to spend any money on flowers (casualty of a budget cut). So I'm trying to spruce things up with some free plants that come back year after year.

Yesterday I treated Skip to a fun surprise for Father's Day. One of our favorite places in Cali was called Jamba Juice. They are popping up here and there in the Twin Cities. So I took them all down to one in the quaint and gorgeous area of St. Paul and we enjoyed a delicious smoothie for breakfast. YUM! Tonight I was supposed to make homemade pizza with a deep dish crust from scratch. It's a recipe I got from my Rachael Ray mag and it's the favorite of an award-winning pizza chef. If it's good (and easy) I'll post the recipe later. I say "supposed to" because I didn't realize that it needed to rise for 20 min and then another 60 min and then cook for 30. Sheesh. So we went to TGIFridays. Mmmmm...It's been a super weekend. I really needed it!

where did that come from?

2008-06-14T21:24:00.002-05:00

Something new entered into my thought life yesterday.

On Fridays we have a pharmacist named Andrea in the pharmacy who double checks all our orders before they are shipped. Andrea is a few years younger than me, a new mom, and just finishing up some pharmacy school. She wants to be a professor. Andrea and I get along really well as we have so much in common. We started talking about test-taking, studying, school, etc. Based on what I told Andrea about myself, she said that I would be a really good fit for pharmacy school. ME? WHAT? I told her that I didn't like chemistry and math and pretty much that's what it all is, right? Actually it's not. It's more the applied chemistry and math. So it's not just the chemical equations but how the body works and uses drugs and all that. I started to realize that the things I find most fascinating about my job are the kinds of things that pharmacists study. I'm the only tech who actually asks what each drug is used for. I am so interested in each patient as a person and wonder what their condition is and why they need this or that round of antibiotics. Do they have MRSA (the super bug) or Crohn's Disease? It's all very interesting to me. Andrea explained some of the things I have in my pocket already that would give me preference over other applicants into the program (BS degree from the U of MN, I'm a resident of MN, I have work experience, etc.). And it really got me thinking.

Let me digress for a moment. I haven't given additional education a thought for almost 8 years. I NEVER thought I'd even consider it. I was just thankful that I could put my 4 years of college to use with this job. And I also promised myself that I would never go to college while my kids were young.

So back to my thinking. Is this a God thing? Could I really do this? Should I really do this? I started talking with Skip about it and found myself get almost giddy. I think I could do this! And I think I would really like it. What a blessing it would be to our familyif we could live off my income instead of scraping by? And with all the Walgreens, CVS's, Snyder Drug Stores popping up, there certainly isn't a shortage of jobs. I can't see myself being a pharmacy tech for 30 years (especially with my pay). And I can't see myself not working when both kids are in school full time. So I need something. I am going to be praying hard and doing some serious research in the next 6-8 months about this. I'm all emotionally charged about it now so I could feel differently in a week.

So we'll see. There's so much to think about.

whew i'm glad it's a new week

2008-06-09T21:24:00.002-05:00

Last week was really tough. I was a ball of nerves because I was scheduled to work my first weekend shift. When you work a weekend shift you have to come in at 10am and stay until 2pm (On Saturday) unless the pharmacist has a lot of orders to fill. And then I was on-call all weekend in the event that the pharmacist needed me to come fill an ASAP order. The order filling wasn't worrying me. I was also responsible for packaging and calling a courier to pick up the order. And pulling all the extra supplies that go with the order (like a million different kinds of tubing, needles, IV prep kits, etc). I was soooo worried that I would screw it up and send the drug to Mozambique when it needed to go to St. Paul. It wasn't until last Monday that I was even trained in on packaging and shipping. So I wasn't really confident. To make matters worse, the pharmacist on call was my boss's boss. The Big Man. The one that I really wanted to impress. Yea, that pretty much went out the window when I locked myself out of the building in the first 5 minutes and ran around the building banging on windows and doors trying to get someone's attention for 15 minutes. And guess who had to find me? Yep, the pharmacist. Sigh...I felt like such a doofus. Fortunately he has a good sense of humor so we just laughed about it. Well the Saturday shift went pretty well and I didn't have to stay too much past 2pm. So I survived. And as far as I know, all the drugs made it to their intended destinations. And I wasn't called in on Sunday, although I checked my cell phone every 5 minutes to make sure that I hadn't missed a call from the pharmacist.

On Sunday my cousin Jane had her graduation party. Man I can't believe she's going to college. Her parents threw her this massive party which was super fun. We had a great time. I had a blast buying her gift. I took about 50 bucks and went to the dollar store and got all the odds and ends and school supplies I could think of. Things that you don't realize you need in a dorm room. Like silverware, dish soap, dishes, a can opener (opening a can of soup with scissors is not fun, trust me), shower shoes, mechanical pencils, pens, highlighters, etc. It was so much fun. And then when I packed it up for her I put a little sticky note with a goofy message on each and every item. We laughed our heads off.

My aunt's dad (he was married to my dad's mom for many years so we're not technically related) was in town. Even though he hasn't been a grandfather figure in my life, I've always called him Grandpa and liked him. He's a quiet German man who is very gentle and loving. I decided to sit down next to him and chat for awhile. I was amazed at the stories he told me. He was born and raised in Germany. So he still has a very thick German accent. We had been talking about our current President and the war and all that (something many old people like to do) and said, "This President has no idea what war is like." He then told me that when he was like 9 or 10 during the war in Germany his family was fleeing from one side to the other (I think from East to West). It was January and they were in a horse-drawn carriage. They could see bombs lit up around them, blowing things up. His mother was pregnant and ended up dying from the conditions (the baby died too). The soldiers took their horses. He said it was just frigid cold and miserable. I couldn't believe it. I had no idea he had experienced that. He's also a gifted carpenter and showed me this one-of-a-kind, absolutely gorgeous highboy dresser he made for my cousin. From scratch. It was breathtaking. He's so talented.

Just as I was leaving my aunt's house she gave me the best gift ever. She let me harvest as much of her rhubarb as I wanted. I felt like I had won the lottery. I LOVE rhubarb. I brought it all home in a box and immediately cut it up and froze it. I have enough for 4 rhubarb custard pies. Mmmmm. My favorite. I could eat a whole one myself. Mmmm......

So that was my weekend.

Ella is officially a first grader now. She ended her school year today at Como Zoo in St. Paul. In some ways I can't believe she's in 1st grade. But then when I look at her and listen to her talk and see how tall she is, I can believe it. She's such a good kid.

wrestling at four in the morning

2008-06-08T05:40:00.005-05:00

I've been wrestling with something recently. I think I have been wrestling with it for probably most of my life, but it's been on the forefront of my mind over the last few weeks. I want to live a substantial life. A life of meaning. I want to make a difference. I want to be a part of something BIG that makes a deep impact on more than just those I come into contact with everyday. That's not to say that those around me are less important, but this vision I have of me reaches beyond them as well. When I was in high school and into college, I had this drive to become someone of consequence. Someone that people respected and admired for the difference she made in people's lives. At the time I thought that would be fleshed out in a career as a physical therapist, someone who was a healing hand in another's life. Noble, but my sights were set on myself and not on bringing glory to God. That dream never materialized. A few years after Skip and I got married I had this vision of him and I sharing a stage, speaking together to a huge group of people, having something to say that people wanted to hear. Was this from God? I don't know. But this image hasn't left me over the years.

A few weeks ago Skip and I attended a benefit dinner for an organization called International Justice Mission (IJM). IJM "is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression." They have teams of lawyers, investigators and aftercare specialists that free people in bondage. (Think modern slavery, brothels, torture and sexual predators). While at this dinner I was overcome with emotion. I had the strongest desire to partner with this organization. Good, right? Well, I'm trying to look objectively at my motivation. See, we were invited to this dinner by some friends of ours, Kevin and Susie Larson. This couple, along with Troy and Sara Groves, planned this dinner for 650 people. I absolutely adore Susie Larson. She's an incredible author and woman whose work (and delightful personality) have resonated deep within me. And Sara Groves is seriously one of my favorite music artists. Soooo, I've got this internal struggle within myself. Am I wanting to be a part of this because I'm star struck? To rub shoulders with these women would be kinda, well, cool. What's my motivation? Is it to free the captives? Or is it to hang around those I admire deeply? Or maybe it's this deep longing to be a part of something that matters. Something that I can get my hands into and call my own.

I started a book yesterday that already has me reeling. It's called "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldredge. It talks of how we as women have built within us a desire for greatness, beauty, adventure, romance. We were also made in God's image and these are some of the characteristics we have of God. The authors also touch on how women often feel shame for desiring these things. How many of us sometimes are embarrassed to admit we like cheesy chick flicks? Or think we're asking too much to want to feel beautiful, loved, wanted, needed? I am starting to think that this passion for greatness, this urge to be someone of consequence, isn't about stroking my ego. It isn't about making myself look or feel good. It isn't about hobnobbing with famous women. It's about embracing who God created me to be.

At this dinner I heard Sara Groves sing a song called "When the Saints". It's a take on the old song "When the Saints Come Marching In". She sings of the strength and courage of the saints before our time like Paul and Silas, Harriet Tubman, Mother Teresa, and the unsung heroes of IJM and how she wants to be like that. The one line that made my heart leap was "and when the Saints go marching in, I want to be one of them..." I wanted to jump up and shout at the top of my lungs, "ME TOO!" Every time I listen to that song tears run down my cheeks and my spirit stirs. Is it wrong for me to want to leave the kind of mark that the Apostle Paul or Mother Teresa made on humanity? Am I just being my sorry old arrogant, self-serving self?

See, that's what I'm struggling with. I know my heart and it's wicked. Who is my motivation here? Me or God? Something is stirring in me, I can't deny that. But I'm scared that it's about me and not something that God wants for me. Been there, done that, got the scars to show for it. I guess we'll just see where this goes.

balance

2008-06-07T13:57:00.002-05:00

I'm having a hard time finding balance right now. Or maybe it's less about balance but more about readjusting my priorities. My whole world changed when I started working. And the things that I loved about being at home full time I still love, but I can't have nearly as much. One of those things is time with my girlfriends. I feel like my support system was ripped out from underneath me. It's not that they abandoned me or that I abandoned them. It's just that things are different and we're still navigating how to adjust to that difference. Recently a friend said to me that she has no idea how I pulled off being in MOPS leadership along with all the other things going on in my life. I'm all done with MOPS, School of Ministry, Ella's done with school (aside of a field trip on Monday). But I'm still frustrated. I am still stretched thin. But I'm not finding the time for my girlfriends. I told my friend K probably 2 months ago that I wanted to take her out for lunch for her birthday. Haven't been able to make that one work yet. My dear friend J is moving away in a few short weeks and I haven't seen her for several weeks. The last thing I want is for my friends to think that I don't care about them or that I have forgotten them. Or that I simply don't have time for them. That sounds so mean. Like it's intentional. But the reality is, I really don't have endless amounts of time. But I still value them. It's just hard to communicate that. So if you are a friend of mine, and you're feeling that I have dropped you like a bad habit, know this: I haven't. I love you. I need you! I'm just still growing into this new phase of my life. Please be patient with me!

anticipation

2008-05-24T10:09:00.002-05:00

We're always in transition. Nothing for our family remains the same for long. It's a good thing and a hard thing. Right now we are anticipating God doing something new and interesting. And for the first time, I can say that I actually trust and believe that God will do something.

If you've read my posts in the last 9 months you will know that life has been somewhat difficult for us but it ended in a glorious God-sized provision that never would have been able to create on my own. (Our new jobs and new way of life). I think I have finally learned that God can provide. And he will. Best of all, it was just what we both needed and wanted.

So what's the big provision we are anticipating? This Fall we will need an additional source of income to makes ends meet. So how will God provide this? As we've seen before, the possibilities are boundless! What will it look like? Will it totally change our lives? Will we recognize that it's God? Whatever it may be, I am anticipating it. Not freaking out over it. Not worrying. Just actively looking for. Not anxiously awaiting. Just waiting.

However this form of provision is packaged, it will be oh-so-cool. And I will tell you all about it and we can praise God together!

just what i needed

2008-05-21T08:26:00.004-05:00

Sunday night I just had a feeling that I would be home on Monday with the kids. Skip was away for a few days at Trout lake Bible Camp as the speaker for a youth pastor's conference. The kids were snotty and coughing and I just figured that we all needed a day at home. So I called in sick.

I had no idea how much I needed that day off. I didn't shower. We didn't brush our teeth or hair. I didn't leave the house until 9pm to drag the garbage bins to the curb. It was cold and rainy all day. We watched movies and read books. I ate strawberry shortcake for breakfast. We had cereal for dinner. I read about 340 pages in a book (no exaggeration). I did about 1700 loads of laundry (slight exaggeration). It felt sooooo good to be lazy. It made me realize how much I missed being at home with them.

Tuesday morning made me realize how much I don't miss being at home full time. "Letsgoletsgoletsgo!" "Brush your hair! Brush your teeth! Get those shoes on! Go potty!"

As I drove to work I pondered how amazing it is that God really does know what I need and want. I may think I do but it's he who really knows. It's nice to know that I can trust him for that.

what does this mean?

2008-05-18T09:47:00.003-05:00

Can anyone explain what this means to me?

"Deep cries out to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me." Psalm 42:7

I don't understand what "deep cries out to deep" means.

she really knows me

2008-05-17T21:11:00.002-05:00

We've all received gifts from well-meaning friends or family where they say, "When I saw this I thought of you and had to get it for you!" You open the gift and wonder if they got you confused with someone else.

That was the total opposite experience for me on Thursday night. I got a little card in the mail and in it was the perfect gift. Gift cards for coffee shops or Target are always a winner with me. But this one was personal. This gal really knows me. It's a gift card to Red Robin, my favorite burger joint (and probably favorite restaurant) in the known world. JK, you totally outdid yourself! Fortunately there is a Red Robin fairly close to my work. So I get to treat myself to a Banzai Burger whenever I want.

Yeehaaaawww! Thanks J!

a nice perk

2008-05-13T17:55:00.003-05:00

There are many things that I love about my job. The people are really fun, the work is physical and mental, it's relaxed and it's interesting. But one perk I didn't anticipate has become my favorite thing. Right behind my building is a lake. It's a small one but it has a paved trail around it. And there's a land/walking bridge right across the middle. The pathway is lined with thick vegetation and trees. It takes me 15 minutes to walk around it using the foot bridge, a perfect government-mandated break. I can't tell you how refreshing this place is. There's a dock for fishing, a picnic area and a park (for the kiddies). I walked it today and saw turtles, Canada geese, and some gorgeous yellow birds. The sound of the birds chirping, the wind in the trees is an amazing connection with God during my day. I was even overwhelmed with fragrance from some flowering bushes (possibly white lilac). Today as I was crossing the land/foot bridge I came upon a family of geese. How cute, right? Well Papa Goose didn't think too kindly of me walking next to him. So he started hissing at me and waddling towards me! I backed up and realized that this thing wasn't going to let me cross. So I opened my umbrella and used it as a shield as I ran past the goose! Ahhhhhhh! It was pretty funny. I can't believe how blessed I am to have this little oasis!

(Lisa, ready to have lunch and walk with me??!)

happy mother's day to me

2008-05-11T17:15:00.003-05:00

This might bother some of you, but I'm one of those moms that likes to spend Mother's Day alone. I like to be doing the things that I don't normally get to do...by myself. I'm not alone in this. My friend Sheri today told her husband that she wants him to take the kids away from the house for 4 hours. Another mom told her husband that she just wants to clean the house unhindered today. Strange? I don't think so. You see, we moms (especially ones with young kids) are also women. We're women who often don't get to explore our individuality or celebrate that we are feminine or that sometimes we don't want to be Mom.

Today I got to do what I wanted to do. I am painting Simon's bedroom. I have a very hard time with projects that are not completed. And the painting of the inside of my house is still undone. And it really bugs me. It has bugged Simon too. He's been asking for me to paint it. So I found a sale on paint (I'm so very very picky) at Sears and went with it. I love painting. At about 3pm I stopped at the local Taco Del Mar for some free food for moms. This is probably the highlight of my day. I got a full meal of real baja fish tacos. Like Rubios in SoCal. Free! I sat there and smiled while I dined. All by myself.

It's a beautiful day and the fam's outside riding bikes and Skip's mowing. Below is a picture of Ella (yes, we require our children to wear helmets while gardening) by my late fall project last year. This side of the house had nothing but grass. Bo-ring. So I did a little Craigslist hunt and got the flagstone, the landscaping rock and the daylilies all for free. I can't believe how big the lilies are already! I am hoping to get some more free projects done this summer. Tonight we are grilling Caesar burgers (like caesar salad only it's on the burger--yum!) and probably drinking wine outside. What a lovely Mother's Day!

catch 22

2008-05-10T12:55:00.002-05:00

We're in a predicament here. If you've been following Skip's blog, you know that we are trying to be more socially and environmentally minded. And it feels a little hypocritical that we own a huge SUV that is a gas hog. Honestly, I'm embarrassed by it. It's a good car. It's extremely comfortable to drive and ride in and it's very functional. But it's big. It costs us $90 to fill every 2 weeks. The problem for us right now is that we don't owe any money on it. It's ours (what a concept, huh?). So all we pay each month is gas. And in order to get a more fuel-efficient car that would probably mean that we'd have to sell the truck or trade it in AND get a car loan. So where's the balance? What's the lesser evil? It may cost us more to get a smarter car. Is that worth it? What's the principle here? Sigh..this whole "living justly" thing is a whole lot harder than I expected.

kid stuff

2008-05-07T08:07:00.003-05:00

As if you needed more evidence that my kids are cute and funny.

Simon: "Mommy, listen to my rhyme! Door, whore!"
Me: "Yes, that rhymes. Let's find another one."

This is Ella's itinerary for the day. It says: First wait for Simon then have a snack. Then play. If it's ok with Dad, we can watch a little of TV. Then go play in our rooms.

I love it!

more simon

2008-05-03T19:08:00.002-05:00

Every morning Simon comes upstairs and greets me with a holiday greeting. Right now it's "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom!" At Christmas time (up until Valentine's Day) it was "Merry Christmas, Mommy!" I usually respond with something that only makes Skip laugh like, "Happy Administrative Professionals Week, Simon!" or "Happy Arbor Day, Simon!"

Never fail, when I sit down at the piano Simon always (and I mean ALWAYS) asks me to play Feliz Navidad. He calls it "Wish You A Merry Christmas". So I pound out the song while he and Ella dance around.

What a goofy kid.

my favorite wine

2008-05-03T19:03:00.003-05:00

Bottom line.

My favorite wine of all time is the Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon. It's red, a little sweet, and deeply flavorful. (And it's cheap). It's making me pretty happy right now. :-) It went beautifully with my burger, roasted potatoes and veggies with ranch dressing tonight. It was a good day.

not what i wanted to hear

2008-05-03T11:19:00.003-05:00

Simon: Hmmm....I wonder what happened to my gum.

Not something I wanted to hear.

wuv, twoo wuv

2008-05-02T21:24:00.003-05:00

I know my Skippy loves me. He said that celebrating Mother's Day on Mother's Day is cliche so he did it today.

He visited my work around 4:45pm with a beautiful bouquet of red roses and star gazer lilies, chosen by the kids. He also dropped off a backpack with a change of clothes (socks and shoes included!). He waited outside for an hour until I was done with work and let me pick where we were going to eat. We dined at a lovely chinese restaurant called Pei Wei. During our dinner he handed me my Mother's Day gift from him...a nice big gift card to Victoria's Secret. Ohh lala! So we drove to the mall right by my work and spent most of the $$ at Victoria's. Side note here - why is it that you always run into someone you know at that store? Why couldn't it be Walmart or Checker Auto Parts? No, I had to be standing there with unmentionables in my hand. Talk about awkward for both parties. Not only that but it HAD to be someone that we haven't talked to in ages so you can't just go, "Hey! See ya around!" We had to rehash everything that's gone on for the last 3 years. Sheesh. Back to my lovely evening...from there we hit Goodwill and stocked up on summer clothes for Ella. That was really fun!! Then we opted for our favorite dessert locale - the Dairy Queen. The night is still young so Skip's picking up a movie on the way home from dropping the sitter off. Oh, I forgot to mention that he even arranged for a babysitter! What a wonderful day. It was such a good reminder of how lucky I am to have met such a good man. I can't believe that we have been together almost half of my life. It's almost impossible for me to remember what life was like without him. I'm glad I don't have to.

I love you so much, my Skippy. You are so good to me.

And Skippy scored big points by surprising me AND me liking the surprise. (Remember, I don't like to be surprised nor is it easy to surprise me.) Good job, honey!

more freakish weather

2008-04-27T12:42:00.003-05:00

It snowed yesterday. Hard. It was really cold and super windy. What's up? It's almost May. I saw mosquitoes 2 days before the snow. Hopefully they all DIED a very cold, lonely death.

Fortunately the snow melted by the end of the day. But it's still cold. I'm so sick of this. The trees are finally starting to bloom and the grass is greening up! All except for the nice yellow pee spots from Ruby. Thanks, dog.

Going out for coffee with a good friend today. Man I need this time out!

tag - you're it!

2008-04-26T20:40:00.003-05:00

Although I have done this sorta schtick many times, I haven't on my blog. So here goes.

Four Jobs I've Held:
Pharmacology Research Lab Assistant
Cashier at McDonalds
Personal Care Assistant for a child with CP
Corporate Marketing Administrative Assistant
(I'm beginning to see a trend with the "assistants" hmmm)

Four movies I could watch over and over:
The Man From Snowy River
The Notebook
Napolean Dynamite
my wedding video (you have to come to my house to see this one)

Places I've lived (in order-kind of):
Colorado Springs, CO
St. Bonifacius, MN
St. Paul, MN
Anoka, MN
Escondido, CA
Temecula, CA
Mounds View, MN
Blaine, MN
Andover, MN

Four TV shows I like:
The Office
LOST
Survivor
So You Think You Can Dance

Four favorite foods:
Old Chicago's Chicago Seven Pizza
Vietnamese eggrolls with fish sauce
Butternut Squash Ravioli from Green Mill
Fish Tacos from Rubios--Becky, they are now in Colorado (no surprise there)

Where would I rather be?
Sitting on my swing reading a book
At Target with $100 to blow on whatever I want
Oceanside Beach
At a coffee shop with a girlfriend

Four people I'm tagging:
Becky
Sheryl
Lisa
uhhh, I guess I don't have another person

i love craigslist

2008-04-20T15:17:00.002-05:00

I have always wanted a jean jacket. They are cool. They are cute. They are extremely functional and fashionable. They can be worn with jeans or a pretty summer dress. They can also be expensive. Well today I decided to look on craigslist. And I found this cute little number for 5 bucks about 15 min from my house. I'm happy and feeling sassy. Can you tell?

how to grill a steak

2008-04-16T21:45:00.002-05:00

I love grilling. I'm usually the one to grill since Skip has a, well, ahem, well, a tendency to, well, uh, burn things. (He's done very well this year so far to not burn things). And since he's been doing all of the cooking since I have been working full-time (almost 3 months) I think he's learned quite a bit about cooking. Anyway, the purpose of this blog was to share some incredibly valuable information about grilling steaks. This info comes from Vince Marotte, a good friend of ours from California. You must read this before you ruin a steak this summer.

Enjoy!

Maybe it’s a measure of manhood, the perfect steak. I try to limit my beef intake, but I love a perfectly seasoned and grilled steak. Spring is coming so I thought I would hook all the grillers up on the finest way to prepare your steaks this summer. Plus I had a couple people ask for my recipe so I thought I would get it in writing.

A little background info. I come from a cooking family. We owned a restaurant and several catering companies growing up, so I have some credentials on this.

Let me start off by saying, the biggest mistake most people make when grilling is putting cold beef on the grill. If you read no further, please do this at least. Let your steak get to room temp before putting it on the grill. You will never cook a steak right when you put it on the grill cold. It will loose all it’s juice and you will never get the done-ness figured out.

Moving on. For the average griller you will find the rib eye to be the easiest steak to work with. It has a terrific balance of fat, meat and of course cost. New York strip is pretty good but a little trickier, maybe consider tri tip as your back up. But go with the rib eye and you will be happy. Out here in Cali I can get rip eye for 5 bucks a pound and 7 bucks for the organic hormone free.

With a 1 inch thick rib eye start one hour before you intend to put it on the grill. Coat it in salt. Coarse sea salt or kosher salt is my favorite. Table salt is fine if that’s what you got. When I say coat it, I mean coat it. With coarse salt, you may not even see the meat under the salt. Lightly pat the salt in. For a 1 inch thick steak I let it sit for and hour. This also give it time to come to room temp. Thinner or thicker steaks, modify the time accordingly.

Now here is where your taste comes in. I use Montreal Steak from McCormick. When you put the salt on you can also add seasoning of your choice to add to it. Since the Montreal has a significant amount of salt in it, I cut back on the salt I add before. Just slap it on with the salt. You can use garlic, rosemary or what ever you have laying around. But go easy the first time you try something, you don’t want to dominate the meat with weird flavors.

After your meat has stood for as long as you determined based on its thickness, it’s time to rinse the meat. Yes I said rinse the meat. Pick the meat up with your hand and rinse everything off. You may need to rub it a bit to get all the chunks off. while you are rinsing it you may notice that it may be trying to fall apart, that’s because you are hold a really tender steak because of the salt curing.

After you rinse each steak, pat it really dry with paper towels. You want to place a dry steak on the grill. If it’s all wet, you will essentially be steaming it…that’s not good.

Make sure your grill is good and hot. Put this puppies on there and give them about 5 minutes on each side, give or take depending on how you like them. The second biggest mistake people make is get the steak to where they want it while it’s on the grill. Meaning, if I want a medium steak I cut it open on the grill and when it looks medium on the grill I pull it. The problem is, if you pull a medium cooked steak off the grill, by the time you eat it it will be medium-well to well done. If you want a medium steak, pull it off at about rare to medium rare.

Let the steak rest for 8 to 10 minute. before you cut it. The juices are still jumping around in there and if you cut it, the will break loose and ruin your baby.

Enjoy with an ale of some sort. I find Lager to go better with chicken and fish. You can’t go wrong with a Smithwick’s.

it's really hard to surprise me

2008-04-16T21:32:00.003-05:00

As hard as Skip tries, he just can't surprise me. It's nothing that he does or doesn't do. I'm just too darn intuitive. I actually discourage him from surprising me because I don't like surprises. They make me nervous. Today he did a wonderful thing to surprise me. But I figured it out before he could spring the surprise. At any rate, it was still a good thing he did.

#1) He made a super good dinner. Remember how I said I cooked all day? I threw some pork chops in some marinade and froze them. He grilled them and they were absolutely amazing. Here's the recipe because it's so good. Marinate for 4-24hrs.
4 pork chops
1 cup beer or apple cider (I did about 75% beer--honeyweiss--and 25% apple juice)
2 Tb brown sugar
2 tsp chili powder
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 T worchestershire sauce

He also boiled some artichokes (the real thing) until they were absolutely falling apart so good. We melted some butter and added garlic salt. They were absolutely delightful. Ella ate one all by herself. What kid eats artichokes like that?

#2) Here's the surprise. He bought us a new gazebo and put it up outside! We had one for a few years but it got a mangled up by a crazy storm last summer. Basically it was twisted metal and canopy on the wrong side of the yard. Total bummer. This one is similar but better. It feels like spring! I can't wait to sit at the picnic table outside for dinner with a glass of my fav wine, watching the sun set. Man I love it. Thank you Skippy!

So how did I figure out the surprise? He insisted that we eat outside for dinner (which we didn't) and I saw the big box on the side of hte yard as I drove up. Oops. I couldn't play dumb. I walked in the door and couldn't hide my smile. He knew immediately that I knew. Sorry Skip, I just can't help it. :-)

#3) I got a Peanut Buster Parfait for dessert. Mmmm. Nuff said. My favorite part? The nuts.

It was a great day.

red wine and bowling

2008-04-13T20:26:00.003-05:00

Today was the 10th anniversary for our new church. The first big project that Skip had was to basically throw a big birthday party for everyone at the church to attend. About 100 of us ended up spending the afternoon at a locally owned bowling alley (kids and all!) with cake and tons of food. It was really fun. Totally chaotic! But Skip did a great job. I bowled a 134, which isn't too bad. I had 4 strikes, 2 of which were in the first 2 frames! It was pretty fun. The kids had a blast. Simon tried to kick the bowling ball down the lane. That left us with a ball stuck in the middle of the lane since it obviously didn't have enough speed.

So while I was bowling Skip was making the rounds to practically every family in the church asking if anyone had a bottle of red wine sitting around that we could "borrow." Sure enough someone did. So Skip picked it up on the way home. Now my marinara is simmering on the stove (2 huge stock pots!) and I can make all my Italian delights tomorrow night while he's at the PTO meeting. I have pork chops and chicken thighs marinating away in the freezer. Mmmmm.

Thanks, Skippy. That was really cool of you to do for me. I love you.

dumbest stupidest law in the whole known universe

2008-04-13T14:14:00.002-05:00

Today.

Today I was going to make a double batch of my marinara (about 20 cups) so that I could make lasagna, calzones, and other delicious Italian delights. I spent 2 hours grocery shopping this afternoon. I hate grocery shopping on Sunday. I had this all planned out. But at the end of my trip I realized that I was lacking one key ingredient. One ingredient that I can't buy on Sunday. I can't buy it on Sunday because there's this absolutely idiotic, dumb, stupid, (insert shaking fist and scowl) law that says that liquor stores are not to be open on Sunday. I can buy beer at the gas station. But not the bottle of red wine that I need (absolutely a necessity) for my marinara sauce. Grrrrr. Now I can't make anything.

ella's card

2008-04-12T22:58:00.006-05:00

Ella is really into making cards. And she's starting to venture out into spelling the words without asking for help. This is my favorite one so far because of the cute spelling but also because of the message. In case you need an interpreter, it says

From Ella

To Simon

Come to my

Room

There will

A Surprise

Not sure what kind of surprise she had in mind but knowing those kids, it could go either way. She could shower him with attention and love. Or she could shower him with a cup full of dead box elder bugs. (This just in...the surprise was that he could color with her crayons and coloring books in her room. How sweet.)

the sweetest thing

2008-04-12T22:13:00.002-05:00

I spent about an hour talking to my Grandma tonight. We call her GG now that she's a Great Grandmother (thanks to me). That's not unusual since the woman can TALK. But that's what I love about her. You can talk about anything and everything. She's one of my most favorite people in my life. She's not just GG but she's my close friend. I know how fortunate I am.

So GG told me this story about my cousin, Jake. Jake is probably the smartest, most talented, well-adjusted, normal kid I know. He's 14 but has the maturity of a 45 year old. Jake's brilliant but mellow. Musically out of this world but humble. Jake and his sister, Katie (13 and also a spectacular kid) were fortunate, like my brother and I, to grow up with GG. They are extremely close with her. GG is very active in their lives. She moved to Castle Rock, CO from Colorado Springs when Grandpa died (3 years ago yesterday, actually) to be closer to that family. So last Tuesday, like every other Tuesday, Jake and the family were at GG's for dinner. Jake stood next to GG and commented on how he was finally as tall as her. GG's about my height (5'8"ish). He sat down on the chair and said, "GG, come over here and sit on my lap." She did. Jake wrapped his arms around this beloved woman and said, "Finally! I have been waiting for the day when I wrap you up in my arms like you have done with me all my life." I just about started crying!!! Now what 14 year old boy would say that? GG said she felt like that old woman in the children's book I'll Love You Forever. Totally and completely loved. Now that is what families are supposed to be like. I am so stinking blessed.

it's not fair

2008-04-12T18:23:00.002-05:00

I have a parenting dilemma.

Every day I hear "It's not FAIR!" from both kids when they see inequality in some form or another. Often I will say, "Well, life isn't fair" or "Sometimes things just aren't even or fair." My problem is this: how do I handle injustice in a world that is full of it? I don't want my kids to see social injustice and just shrug their shoulders and say, "Sorry, buddy, I see that you are homeless but, well, life just isn't fair." I want them to understand that life isn't fair but it doesn't have to stop there. I want them to want to do something about it, to shout, "Hey! This isn't right!" and work towards a solution.

I suppose that the greatest lesson they could learn is from my example. How am I fighting social injustice? Am I shouting, "HEY! These people don't have enough to eat! It's not fair!" and then actually doing something about it? Not really. I want to. But how? I need practical ideas, folks. How can I teach my kids to be socially-minded? It's hard to do when they are little but that's really the best time to get them started.

I need to think about this more.

freakish weather

2008-04-11T07:36:00.002-05:00

The weather terrorists predicted something like 8 inches of snow over the next 24 hours. It started turning nasty yesterday with really high winds (strong enough to knock over our huge gas grill!) Then the rains/sleet came. It was pretty nasty outside. So it was raining/icing/sleeting for several hours. Then we heard the thunder and saw the flashes of lightening (it totally bugged Ruby). The next thing that happened was quite extraordinary. It started snowing! While it was thundering. And lightening. I have never experienced that sort of freakish weather in my life! Apparently it's called thundersnow and is a rare occurence. (Really it is. Click on the link!)

The morning has arrived and we have probably 1/2" of snow on the ground. I'm sure there's a nice thick layer of slush under that and the winds are still strong. Nice day for a picnic, eh? So much for Spring. I'm beginning to think that we won't have much of a Spring here. It will just jump right into hot and humid. At this rate, I think I might be ok with that!

On a side note, if you haven't seen them, jump over to Skip's blog and see what he's been up to with the kids. It's hilarious!

Box Elder Bug Fun
UFC Sibling Style

my budding hairstylist

2008-04-06T20:16:00.001-05:00

Ella is showing promise as a hairstylist. What do you think?

o how i hate thee, boisea trivittata

2008-04-06T15:37:00.003-05:00

When I was a kid and lived here in Minnesota, the worst part of the year for me was when the box elder bugs would come out in full force. They would march like an army up the exterior of our apartment. They'd cover the front door and fly at you when you tried to go inside. I hated them. I still do. And now they live with me. I think they hibernate in the walls of my home and when it warms up they make their way out. So now I will find one on my bathroom mirror, one crawling across the living room carpet, one flying and landing on my shirt while I eat lunch (ew ew ew). Recently I went to the ATM and got cash for groceries. I put the cash in a Wells Fargo envelope and sealed it (I had about $15 worth of quarters in it). I opened the sealed envelope to pay for my groceries. Lo and behold there was a freshly squished box elder bug in there. COME ON! That's so nasty. I almost dropped my money.

Ella absolutely adores them. She calls them all "Boxy" and picks them up as if they are cute little soft chicks, cradling them and storing them in her jewelry box. Eww Eww Eww. Yesterday she had stored them in her plastic easter eggs and then proceeded to attach the eggs to her hair. So there they were, probably 12 eggs dangling from her hair by her face. She looked like she had curlers in her hair. Only they had NASTY bugs in them. Gross. Ella asked the other day something along the lines of what purpose the box elder bugs served. I quickly told her that there was none. Nope. No purpose other than to torture me.

O how I hate thee, Boisea trivittata, the wretched box elder bug.

sigh...when will i learn?

2008-03-26T21:23:00.003-05:00

There are some days when I feel like I belong with the Israelites, wandering around in the desert. God brought them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea and was going to give them the Promised Land. But they forgot. And they grumbled. And they complained. They worried that God wasn't going to take care of them, even though he has just parted a freakin sea for them. And food that falls out of the sky every morning? Apparently it didn't have enough sage and parsley in it for their taste.

So that's been me this last week.

I worried and fretted about money. We've been really really tight with the new jobs, unemployment, etc. We have income and property taxes due soon. My recent visit to the ER wasn't cheap. And then last Friday the truck broke down. I wanted to scream. I was really mad. And I've been kinda mad ever since. Stewing. It was going to cost us several hundred. But how in the world? How were we going to get this fixed? I just couldn't imagine that God would provide the money for this. WHERE WAS MY FAITH?? Has he not provided for us, for our every need? Today I was reading "Balance That Works When Life Doesn't" by Susie Larson. (Excellent excellent book). One question in the study guide was "What one thing is weighing on you right now?" Money. The next step was to find a verse in the Bible that addressed that burden. Immediately I thought of Phil 4:19, my God will supply all of your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. The next step was to seek forgiveness for not trusting God with that burden. So I did.

Today, like many of the last week, Skip had to pick me up at work. When I stepped out of the building my jaw dropped. He was driving the truck. What the heck?? It wasn't the costly transfer case (whatever that is) that needed to be replaced. It was a little 10 cent fuse for the 4-wheel drive. God totally provided for our need. In a big way. And here I worried that he wouldn't. When am I going to learn?

Thanks, God, for helping me see you a little more today. I love you!

a most unusual easter day

2008-03-23T18:28:00.004-05:00

Usually people spend Easter with family. It's a lot like Thanksgiving. Ours was a little out of the ordinary. I had invited a coworker over and was prepared to have a guest all day. Got the big case of beer and the bottle of wine, planned a new pork loin recipe and expected the day to be filled with watching sports and just hanging out. My coworker didn't end up coming over. Skip got home early from church (it was an incredible service btw) and we had a leisurely lunch. The kids went to their rooms for quiet time/nap time and Skip and I had a few hours to ourselves. We played an exciting game of Trivial Pursuit (who knew the Archimedes Screw was used in water?) and prepared the house for the traditional "Bunny Trail/Egg Hunt". The kids came out of their rooms and enjoyed looking all over the house for the jelly bean-filled eggs. I got dinner going and it wasn't going really how I expected. I didn't give the pork loin enough time to cook and all the other things were close to being done. So I cut it up into pork chops and shoved it back in the oven. Meanwhile the kids were playing remarkably well together. So when dinner was ready Skip and I sat down and called the kids to the table. Ella said she wasn't hungry yet (it was 6pm). So I looked at Skip and said, "Let's just enjoy this dinner together with our bottle of wine and let them eat later." So we did. It was delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed my Riesling, pork loin that was so tender I didn't need a knife, asparagus and crispy potatoes while the kids played in the background. I didn't have to tell kids to eat time and time again. I didn't have to cut someone else's food up. I got to have a dinner date with my hubby at no extra cost! I loved it. And the food was absolutely delicious. So was the wine.

Skip just told me something that I didn't know. I had no idea that Easter was one of his favorite holidays. "Why?" I asked him. He mouthed, "Candy!" to me. I laughed out loud. He's a Peep, Cadbury Cream Egg, jelly bean, malted milk ball, etc. fanatic. He said, "Easter is Halloween for Christians." I laughed out loud again. Unbelievable. Un-stinking-believable. I love that my husband has a great sense of humor.

So today at church I did a drama. I did a monologue of a woman who had recently had a miscarriage and was struggling with the pain and feeling like God was a million miles away. It was really powerful. The tears were real. I had a miscarriage in my first pregnancy almost 7 years ago. It was an extremely painful experience. The one thing I learned during that time was what peace felt like. God ministered to me deeply by overcoming me with wave after wave of his inexplicable peace. I'm thankful for that experience because it has allowed me to connect with many women (many of them friends) in a way that I wouldn't have otherwise.

So what did you do this Easter? Will you at least respond to this: "He is Risen!"

Simon says

2008-03-23T16:08:00.002-05:00

I'm getting Simon dressed this morning. He has his shirt off and points to his nipples.
Simon: Mom, what are these?
Me: They're nipples.
Simon: (with a diabolical laugh) Daddy has reeeeeeeally big ones.

Ella is always singing. Always. And she sports a pretty pronounced vibrato. She was singing some song in the car yesterday. It was kinda loud. Simon says in a very frustrated tone with his hands over his ears, "Ella, your singing is dreadful." Wow. He must think we named him after Simon Cowell. (which we didn't...no really...we didn't). And where did he learn that word? Oh wait. Skip watches American Idol with the kids. He probably picked it up from Cowell. Sheesh.

We were at the grocery store the other day. We wandered into the produce area and Simon saw the asparagus. "MOM! Will you please get me some asparagus? I love asparagus! No wait! I want sugar snap peas. Mom, can you get me some sugar snap peas?" Um, who are you? Where is my son? You know, the one that calls every kind of meat on his plate chicken and reminds us that he doesn't like chicken, regardless of what kind of chicken it is, except if it's the hot dog kind of chicken.

And yes, I bought the boy some asparagus AND sugar snap peas.

queen of something

2008-03-12T21:28:00.002-05:00

My dog has it good. Like WAY good. She's the kind that will lay her head on the pillow when she sleeps. What a lazy thing.

one laptop per child...i don't get it

2008-03-09T13:46:00.003-05:00

Am I the only one that thinks the organization "One Laptop Per Child" is ridiculous? Their mission to help children in underdeveloped countries to learn. Learn what? To become online game addicts? How to reconnect with friends on myspace that moved from their village? "Learning learning" is their catch phrase. It's to teach the kids to learn how to learn.

Ok so let's work this out. You give an 8 year old a laptop. Sure, it's well made, durable, etc. Unless every kid in that village has one, our little 8 year old will have to protect his treasure like it were his own life. He would constantly be in fear that the 12 year old would want it. Or the 25 year old who terrorizes the village. And how long will a laptop last in the Sahara Desert? Although they can be found everywhere here in the US, I doubt they have Geek Squad on the corner of Sandy Street and Dusty Boulevard. And how will learning on a laptop (one that will probably last him, say, 2 years MAX) help him beat poverty, malnutrition, persecution?

I will give the creators of this concept respect. They have come up with a one-of-a-kind idea. But how practical is it? I guess I'm more about meeting the basic needs of kids first, which is why we support Mosley Ndeva in Kenya with Compassion International. We've been supporting Mosley for at least 7 years now. Our money goes directly to him to provide for his education, to celebrate Christmas and birthdays, to help him survive and thrive. Not only that, but it also has introduced him to Jesus. And that is worth more than a thousand green laptops.

no carnies at this carnival

2008-03-08T15:28:00.003-06:00

Today was Ella's big school carnival. It was pretty packed with people. The kids had an absolute blast. I, on the other hand, did not. I volunteered to help with refreshments. How hard could that be? Well, let me tell ya. I figured I'd be standing at a table with lemonade and gross, store-bought cookies. No they were selling pizza, hot dogs, nachos, chips, etc. So I was up to my pits in greasy, cold pizza and stinky hot dogs. There was little organization so it pretty much utter chaos. I wish I hadn't volunteered and just enjoyed the time with the fam. Lesson learned.

Click here to see a pic of my pirate and kitty cat.

note to self

2008-03-03T22:38:00.002-06:00

Next time you have a large glass of wine at 9:30pm, don't do laundry. You get confused about which clothes go into which basket. You stumble over the clothes piles. It's not a good idea.

It's happening

2008-03-02T19:54:00.003-06:00

I knew it would come but not this soon. I thought I had at least another year or two.

Boys. Boys that like my daughter.

Ella brought home her first love note the other day from a boy named Devan. I can't remember exactly which boy is Devan but Ella assures me that it's not the one who always gets in trouble. :-) We found the note in her backpack and asked her what it meant. She said that it meant that she loved her friends.

"Friends." That's my girl. Let's just keep it at "friends" for awhile now. We encouraged her in loving her friends.