A new friend

Something cool happened. I was roaming around the blogosphere and started reading about a young mom who transplanted her family from CA to IN. I left her a comment saying that I had also transplanted across the country. Guess what? She emailed me back and we're getting to know each other. HOW FUN!

She seems like an amazing mom. She has 3 boys, 2 with forms of autism. My family had a foster boy live with us for several years who was autistic. Let's just say there were some things....he was NOT going to eat. A lot of time, kids with autism or aspergers have texture & scent issues. I'm so amazed that she is not letting it deter her from what she knows is healthy!

To Think Is To Create - thanks for the conversation. Looking forward to more!

Thanks Kenady

I had a raging headache earlier today.

While I was laying on the couch resting my eyes, Kenady brought me a jar of pickles. "Here Mom, put these on your eyes and get in the tub. You'll feel better quick!"

Ummm.....OUCH!

She's so sweet though...

Advice from Mom

I was talking to my sister in law Jennifer earlier today. We were discussing some things about my Mom, some positive, some not so positive. I started thinking about all the advice she had given me growing up. Again, some positive, some not so positive.

She used to tell me "the way to your family's heart is through their stomach." So true in our family!

When someone was mean to me at school, she'd said "Kill 'em with kindness." Yeah, ok. Not easy for a 10 y.o. It usually worked short term. But years later, I realized that I never learned to resolve conflicts, just to lay down and become a door mat.

Regarding shopping for (in my opinion) un-needed items, she'd say "It's better to ask for forgiveness than to beg for permission." Ummm...not such good advice. She had been married for many, many years with a totally different life ahead of her. I was newly married, new baby, not a good idea to be buying new...everything.

"You must buy good bras!" oh so true Mom - now that's good advice.

Any advice your Mom gave you (or mother in law) that was either useful or a bunch of bull honky?

Weren't we cute in 1977?

Pepsi gives me headaches

I have been off of caffeine since 12/31/07 at around 6 pm. Every second counts while you're in recovery right?

Honestly, I've had a few sodas since then. I had a Coke at Chili's. I've had Sprite at a few places. This morning I woke up and just felt like I needed my old tried & true breakfast beverage. I open up the bottle and drink 1/2...very quickly. It's only 6 oz - not a 2 liter!

Within an hour I had the worst headache ever. Then I remember that I used to have those everyday. The Pepsi has to be the culprit. I haven't had a headache in so long, and was totally surprised that a morning chug would lead to such a terrible headache and then result in a short nap from 10-11 am.

The headache is almost gone, as is my desire for all things caffeinated.

Works for me Wednesday

Ok - this week we are going to tackle that baked on, caked on, stuck on grease. Wasn't that a commercial from the 80's?

I think the worst pan to clean is a lasagna pan. My lasagna has spinach, zucchini, carrots, plum tomatoes....oh yeah...it's sticky. The trick? Save your dryer sheets. The used dryer sheets have a great chemical in them for breaking down grease. Place the sheet in the bottom of the pan & fill your greasy pan with hot water. Give it about an hour, and it will wipe out!

For those of us who can't use dryer sheets? Sorry, you get to use elbow grease!

Blogging

There are very few blogs that intrigue me enough to actually go back and read from the beginning. Here are a few of them that are amazing -

*6 Year Med - Danielle's adventures through medical school.

*Ragamuffin Soul - I'm not done yet, but am determined to go back to the beginning.

*Tales from Labor & Delivery - Hysterical. My new daily dose of laughter.

Thanks Jennifer for directing me to L & D....love it!

Kristen Chenoweth

Yes, I know this video has made it's way around the globe many, many times. I just happened to love it. I watch it at least once each day. If you haven't seen it, you're in for a treat.

Thank you

Thanks to all who have sent pencils already. Our first batch will go out in June, the second batch in September.

Our current count is 167.

Most embarrassing moment

Judy Gregory just put up a post asking for people's most embarassing stories. I have several, but this was the cleanest one.


I was on an airplane with a group of about 30 women, heading to a Mary Kay convention from OR to Dallas. We were all dressed professionally. I wore a cute skirt, blouse & hose. I sat in an aisle seat and of course the man in the middle had to get up to use the restroom. As I stood up, the elastic broke in my skirt, only I didn't notice. All of my colleagues started laughing and pointing. The 50+ year old man just smiled at me. I didn't notice until I felt a little draft from the man heading down the aisle to use the potty. =P

I was desperately wishing that I had chosen to wore a slip, and undies with more coverage. =/

PLEASE - leave your embarrassing stories in my comments. No limit! The more laughter the better.

Star Wars Episode IV recap

Hundreds of frozen people

This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. These are some talented folks.

Crying in church

I love worship at our church. They put so much effort into the entire GCC experience, and it shows. The music last week was amazing. Livin on a Prayer in church? YES! It was so good....

I don't think I've cried while listening to Livin on a Prayer since it played on MTV in the 80's.
Each morning I would leave early for school and walk to our neighbor's house. The Bouche family had MTV, we did not. My family NEVER had cable....cheapskates. We would wait as long as possible (and then run to school) so we could watch the #1 video from the day before. It was Bon Jovi for several weeks. I cried from pure joy watching him perform in his tight red leather pants. Oooooo.....he looked good.

Anyway, the music at church is similar. I don't think I cry from the actual song. I think I cry from watching people (on stage & off) doing something we both love...worship.

You know, people can buy the latest record (ok, I'm dating myself) for $10 on itunes and listen to it at home, or they can spend $100 and listen to it once at a concert.

Why do so many people go to concerts? Because it's the pure joy of having a whole entire room full of people who love the exact same thing you love. This is how church feels for me.

It's finger lickin' good

I LOVE fried chicken. It takes some planning, but is one of the best dinners (in my opinion).

Here is my recipe for fabulous fried chicken

I soak my chicken pieces in a mixture of 2 C. buttermilk, seasoning salt, pepper, garlic & paprika. These are all "to taste"...I like spicy. It's best if you can soak overnight!

About a half hour before you're going to fry - roll the pieces in a mixture of the same spices above, only mixed with 2 C. bisquick instead of buttermilk.

Here's the kicker - dip the flour coated pieces BACK into the buttermilk, and add another layer of flour! You'll get a much thicker crust that way. Mmmmm.....fry as usual, making sure the pieces don't touch in your fryer. (I'll add pics later tonight, if I remember)

How?

How can a person be so great at baking...but their rolls always turn out more like biscuits?

I've tried everyone's suggestions, but can't get it right. Maybe it's the altitude...yeah, that's it.

Now, I just need some blackberry jam to go with my homemade...uh...biscuit/rolls.

I really, really, really

Love LOST. It gets my brain workin'!

Let's Go Bananas

I took my Girl Scout troop to the newest culinary school in Granger called Let's Go Bananas. That's right, the entire place is for kids. It's full of cool kitchen gadgets for parents to use with the help of their children. I love including my kids in meal prep. I think it teaches cleanliness, teamwork & especially math!

The cost for the trip was 9.50 per girl. They made a crisped tortilla topped with sliced fruit and ice cream. The girls got to use a real knife ( good intro to meal prep while camping). The girls enjoyed the treat and had fun together, that's the most important thing.

I initially had a difficult time getting a return phone call. They never did send me menu choices or the price until the day of the event. The owner, Tyfanny, was great with the girls, but her helper...not so much. Not enough patience to work with young kids.

All these things aside, my main reason for not coming back and not suggesting this place to others is the juice. They are using Crystal Lite, actually the Wal-mart equivalent, for their pink lemonade. For a school that is teaching dietary health, how horrible is it to give their clients something so full of chemicals and could possibly kill them.

There are so many studies out that show the link between aspartame and many, many brain conditions. Aspartame is made of 10% methanol and when that methanol breaks down in your system, it turns to formaldehyde. How are soda manufacturers allowed to market this stuff? They are required by law to post the dangers. It's apparently done in a non-descript sort of way.

Anyway, when I saw the punch being served I asked what it was and when I was told, I refused it for my own children. Of course, she asked why. When I explained that my Mom had suffered from a brain aneurysm and the doctors believe it was from an excess of aspartame, Tyfanny was obviously concerned. The other woman could have cared less, I believe she was there for a paycheck.

Overall the store is adorable. I will probably go in to purchase stuff, just not to cook. I'll save that for my own granola, organic, pureed vegetable culinary stylings. =)

Oh, and if I hear one more person say "Well the soda I drink is sweetened with Splenda, and it's totally safe", may get smacked. They said that saccharin was safe, and now they say it can cause cancer (sweet n low). They said aspartame was safe, and now they say it causes major brain conditions (Equal & Nutrasweet). And your oh so precious Splenda is made from sugar, it's made using sugar and treating it with trityl chloride, acetic anhydride, hydrogen chlorine, thionyl chloride, and methanol in the presence of dimethylformamide, 4-methylmorpholine, toluene, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetic acid, benzyltriethlyammonium chloride, and sodium methoxide, making it unlike anything found in nature. Oh, and it also contains chlorine. It was discovered while trying to make a new insecticide.

Mmmmm....doesn't that sound yummy?

30 Day Sex Challenge

A church in Tampa Florida has announced a new series at their church. It's called "The 30 Day Sex Challenge". They are encouraging single folks to be abstinent for 30 days and married folks to have sex every day for 30 days.

I'm all for building strong relationships & this is a great idea for people who really struggle in this area of their marriages. My only suggestion is maybe change the name to "The 22-23 Day Sex & 7-8 Day Massage Challenge". Is their church full of post menopausal women? Cause someone sure didn't think about those of us under the age of 50.

My guess - the idea came from a man. Good idea, just needs a little tweakin'.

Works for me Wednesday

Shannon over at Rocks in my Dryer hosts a Wednesday event called.....Works for me Wednesday. It's a chance for Mom's to post things that are handy / tricky that other Mom's can try in their homes. I love the idea of this and am going to start posting some of my tricks of the trade.

This week - environmently friendly shoe deoderizer. I don't know about you, but I hate the smell of my hubby's shoes. Although his shoe spray is nearly as bad. =P

Here's my solution: take those single socks (you know, the ones who's partner got eaten by the dryer) and fill them with baking soda. Tie it off with some ribbon or even a rubber band...tightly. Leave them in a basket by the front door and when hubby gets home, throw one in each shoe. The baking soda will soak up the moisture and deoderize! This is much cheaper than those sprays and you won't be using chemicals. Try it and let me know if how you like it!

Knight Rider has returned

Ok - so the acting is not great. But I like the new extension of the old show. It was fun to see the old Michael Knight show up for a guest appearance. Hey - don't hassel the hoff.

Michael Tracer is oh so cute. Not to mention the car (insert angelic singing here). It made me think about another one of my dream cars. I've already mentioned the Lotus Elise. There's also the Saleen S7R or the Lambourghini Gallardo (more my dream for Ross). Ross & I have 2 pictures of the Saleen in our basement signed by THE Steve Saleen. A gift from Larry Chapman..thank Larry.

But the ultimate is the GT500E. I know, this is everyone's dream. Maybe not women, but surely men. And although is probably cliche...it must be gun metal grey with black rally stripes.

Check it out.

New Info on the stimulus check

President Bush signed off on the stimulus plan! The only change? If you receive more than your 2008 rebate...you DON'T have to repay it. Cool for those who don't get that much back.

Tag. You're it!

So here we go. I'm going to complete the directions and then you have to do the same.


1) pick up the nearest book ( one of at least 123 pages)

2)Open the page to 123

3) Find the 5th sentence

4)Post the next three sentences

5) Tag 3 people!

Obviously, I fail every time at truly being the listener I desire to be. Listening requires giving undivided attention. If you're the mother of small children ,I am sure you have grown quite used to talking over smaller voices or crying. (Ain't that the truth)

Grown Up Girlfriends by Erin Smalley & Carrie Oliver

OK - now I tag Jennifer Cook, Heather Pennington, & hmmmm.....Terrace Crawford.

Jennifer - is my sister in law and has enough readers.
Heather - is one of my best friends and may not have enough readers. (it's ok Heather - do it anyway)
Terrace - is a stranger. I read his blog and he is really funny.

The Pencil Project

I have a Girl Scout troop of 12 girls. We are always looking for a way to serve both locally and globally. It is really hard to find something globally for them to do that is low cost and easy enough for 9 year olds to do.

Our main project this year was gathering spa products for young women serving in Iraq. Two of the girls decided to go to local businesses and ended up gathering products from Bath & Bodyworks, CVS, Martin's, & The Body Shop. While they were at The Body Shop, a gentleman overheard their conversation with the store manager. He approached them and said that everyday he does something nice for someone and today was their day! They got to choose some products and he was footing the bill. How awesome for these girls to experience true giving at such a young age!

The girls ended up sending SO much stuff to these 3 female soldiers. They packaged it according to the rules. We double bagged everything in freezer bags. A small amount of high protein snacks were sent. We were even able to send them each a build a bear made by one of the girls. My girls loved this project!

Our next project is with The Pencil Project. They match you up with a school in need. You can choose any country including the U.S. You collect pencils and then mail them to the school you were matched up with. How simple is that? I'm hoping that the girls really get a sense of how fortunate they are. So fortunate, that they should help others with a loving heart.

I can't wait to see what these girls can do. So far Cyra's count is at 42 pencils (hoping for thousands!).

If any of you want to donate pencils, let me know and I'll email you my address. No, I'm not going to post it on my blog...scary.=/

Mark Beeson is blogging

I am so excited to hear that our Senior Pastor at GCC is blogging. If you've never heard him speak, you're missing out. He is full of energy and passion! Can't wait to see what he has to say.

Valentine's Day

This is NOT one of my favorite holidays. If my husband brought me flowers or jewelry...it's almost grounds for divorce in my book. I've always hated flowers and jewelry. In fact, I don't have my ears pierced. That's how much I hate jewelry. I do wear a ring, but that's it.

I once received a Toyota Supra for Valentine's Day. Now THAT'S a hard gift to top. The link is to one just like mine. Same leather, targa top, & spoiler. I really miss that car.

Here is my list of acceptable gifts for Valentine's Day or any other special occasion:

*Godiva Chocolate Ballotin
*A Day at the spa
*A new purse
*Shoes
*Wheels & tires
*A car
*Art work
*Vacation
*Dinner out
*Cold Stone
*A new book
*New slippers
*Taking out the trash
*VOSS

My husband is so understanding. He doesn't even attempt to buy me flowers anymore. To me, nothing says "You're no more special than any other woman on the planet", like flowers. Yick.

Some of the things on my list I'll probably never receive. But a girl can dream can't she?

Compassion International

So, I'm still following the trip of the 15 bloggers sent to Uganda for Compassion International. They have posted so many pics and stories of their experiences. There are very few of the posts that don't bring me to tears. The videos wreck me.

I started thinking about sponsoring. We've considered it before, but have always had other projects on our plate. Most recently, we've committed to giving money to the church to add on as well as fund a Community center. We also are participating in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace curriculum. That in itself is a lot of commitment. I feel like our budget is organized the way we know it should be, so we can continue to give to the project and stay on track for Financial Freedom. But then I thought "Maybe I'm just too comfortable." "Maybe I'm making excuses."

We've looked through the photos and bios of many children that need sponsored. We've read stories about the vast differences in a family where one child is sponsored and the other siblings aren't. Ross said that he could not let only one be sponsored...we would have to do all of the siblings. Wait, does that mean we have to wait even longer to sponsor?

I really need to pray about this. It's tugging on my heart. Take a look at the pictures. You just can't stop the lump from collecting in your throat, or the tears from coming. These children live in 6x6 huts, have lost parents to AIDS, have no bathroom facilities, minimal food, sometimes no shoes. To think that I'm worried about my comfort level is sickening.

Not only would $32 dollars make a difference in the life of a child, I think it could make a difference in the life of your family. I encourage you to check out Compassions page. You can look at pics of kids in need. You can search for a kid that has the same birthday as your own. There is a lot of information about the areas that are being helped.

I've seen pictures before, but for some reason it's different this time...maybe I'm different this time.

February 13, 1994

On this day 14 years ago, my Mom & I were hanging out at Creswell Care Center. My Great Grandma Aimee was living there. She wasn't really sick, just suffering from old age. She was 89.

Grandma said she was feeling ok, so Mom and I went to McDonald's to eat. She ordered her usual Filet o' Fish no cheese. I ordered a Chicken McGrill. We shared a large fry, no salt and added pepper. I know none of this matters to you (good memories for me), but it's my blog and I'll write what I want!

Anyway, after we ate, we went back to the nursing home and found that while we were gone for 60 minutes, Grandma died. We were so shocked. Although she was 89, she was very active. She owned a mink ranch in Oregon for years. We have video of her pelting minks in a dress. She attended church every Sunday, the beauty salon every Saturday and lucky number Tuesday.

My Mom lived with Grandma for several years while her parents were divorcing. I never lived with Grandma but spent a lot of time there.

She kept me busy cleaning, cooking, crafting and lots of shopping. We would play hymns on the piano. We watched Richard Simmons together. She followed along in her chair while I stood up and excercised. We ate a Golden Delicious apple every day at 2 pm. She only bought Fleischman's spread to put on her fresh baked bread (every day). She drove a 1959 Lincoln that had a huge arm rest in the back. She told me it was the "Princess seat". She bought me whatever I wanted out of the Sears catalog. Grandma had an old hutch that was full of sweets. Each family had their own drawer that was full, I mean FULL, of sweets. Ding dongs, ho-ho's, M&M's, Snickers, you name it. When I was sick, she'd bring me 7up and Oreos. I can still here her laugh and smell her perfume. I really miss her.

I wish my girls had someone in their life that took such an interest.

Second Saturday

For those of you who don't go to GCC and are reading this, our church does a volunteer opportunity called Second Saturday. On that day of the month, we gather at the church at 8:30 and can choose from several opportunities to serve in our community. It's over by noon, so it's a great way to serve without the long term commitment.

Ross has taken Cyra, but I always stay home with the little ones. This month we all decided to go. We went to pack boxes at Feed the Children. We lined up at the personal care items assembly line. Boxes were packed with t.p., paper towels, hair products, deoderant, lip gloss, face cream, Lanacane, Vagisil, lotions, books etc. There were several kids on our line and they all did a great job! My girls stacked up the Lanacane in 3's and helped another guy throw lip gloss in the box as it went down the line. I was worried that Campbell would have nothing to do, but she found a way to keep occupied the whole time. She carried around 2 boxes of Vagisil. Every once in awhile, you'd see her dancing to the rhythm while shaking the boxes.

It was great to see so many folks show up and give their time & energy into something that truly makes a difference in the life of someone in need.

They're getting sneakier...

I just received an email from someone telling this story:

This lady has changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet...etc....was stolen. 20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says "I just received your text asking about our Pin number and I replied a little while ago."

When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.

Moral of the lesson: Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc....... And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked thru text messages, CONFIRM by calling back. Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet 'family and friends' who text you.

People are so smart....or dumb, not sure which.

Compassion International

A few weeks ago, one of our pastors Rob Wegner spoke again about a girl he sponsors from India through Compassion International. Now, a group of folks in the blogging world are on a trip to Uganda for Compassion International. They are blogging about their experiences for 8 days. They'll be visiting small villages, and meeting families already helped by Compassion. They'll also be meeting families and children who need help from Compassion.

It's going to be a great experience to follow via their blogs. Check out Carlos' blog. He's already got a few videos posted and tonight will let us all know how we can help.

Cyra's pics

Cyra got a digital camera for her birthday (August). She had the best time snapping photos of whatever she could find! She takes pics of people, but often her pics are of "stuff". Here are a few.

Self portrait
Autumn's sandals
Tree in our front yard
My foot print
Kenady dancing to HSM2
A view from Cyra's room
Campbell on the phone
The flag at Nancy's
Morita loving Campbell.

I went dancing

I went to my dance class tonight. It was fun to see all those friendly faces again. I hadn't been in four months and was happy that they all remembered me. I actually danced quite a bit. I got asked to dance for every hustle, but since I hate hustle I rejected. Luckily I got in a swing, rhumba, a couple of waltz', and a couple of fox trots. No cha-cha....maybe next time.

I was fun to see my group of girls again. I really need to plan a girls night. Any suggestions on what to do?

Dump day

*I surprised Cyra at school
*I told her we were going to the movies
*Yes..Hannah Montana!
*I ironed all day before we went
*I mean ALL day
*Who owns so many shirts?
*My hubby does
*I ironed 19 of them today
*I also planned a field trip
*for scouts
*It rained ice balls today
*That's what Kenady called them
*Then it snowed
*IN weather stinks
*OR weather stinks too
*Left at 3 for HM
*We were the 1st people there
*GREAT SEATS!
*Popcorn...Mmmm
*Butterfinger minis...Mmmm
*Gummi Bears....nasty
*Soda...Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
*Afterwards, my belly ached
*Until midnight or so.
*I need tums
*Did I feel this way when I drank soda all day?
*I think so
*Man, I'm glad I quit
*Only 309 days
*Until Disneyworld
*Yes, I'm a planner
*We'll be there over Christmas
*I've heard it's at capacity by 11 am
*We'll be skipping the Magic Kingdom that day
*I'm thinking water park instead
*Typhoon lagoon? or Blizzard Beach?
*Nothing says Christmas like 80 degrees and a swimsuit!
* Look - it's a hidden Mickey °o°

Don't worry Mom

Kenady (age 4) just came in my office and asked me to draw some hands and feet on her person she was attempting to draw

Me - "I'm not good at drawing hands, but I'll try."

Kenady - "The hands look like feet!"

Me - "Sorry."

Kenady - "That's ok! I like feet hands!"

I'm invisible

My sister in law Jennifer posted this on her page. I think we've all (moms) felt this way once or twice...


I'm Invisible

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack
of response, the way one of the kids
walks into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to
be taken to the store. Inside, I'm
thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously
not; no one can see if I'm on the phone,
or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on
my head in the corner, because no
one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The Invisible Mom.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more:
"Can you fix this?" "Can you tie this?"
"Can you open this?"Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a
human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What
time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What
number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car
to order, "Right around 5:30, please."
I was certain that these were the hands that once held
books and the eyes that studied
history and the mind that graduated summa
cum laude -but now they had disappeared
into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. "She's
going, she's going, she's gone!"
One night, a group of us were having dinner,
celebrating the return of a friend from
England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous
trip, and she was going on and on
about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,
looking around at the others all put
together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel
sorry for myself as I looked down
at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing
I ccould find that was clean. My unwashed
hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I
could actually smell peanut butter in it.
I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned tome with a beautifully wrapped
package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book
on the great cathedrals of Europe .
I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I
read her inscription: "To Charlotte ,
with admiration for the greatness of what you are
building when no one sees."
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - thebook.
And I would discover what would
become for me, four life-changing truths, after which
I could pattern my work: No one can say who
built the great cathedrals - we have no
record of their names. These builders
gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished. They made great sacrifices
and expected no credit. The passion of their building
was fueled by their faith that theeyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who
came to visit the cathedral while it
was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny
bird on the inside of a beam. He
was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending
so much time carving that bird
into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one
will ever see it." And the workman
replied, "Because God will see."I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into
place. It was almost as if I heard
God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the
sacrifices you make every day,
even when no one around you does. No act of kindness
you've done, no sequin you've
sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me
to notice and smile over. You
are building a great cathedral, but you can't see
right now what it will become."
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction.
But it is not a disease that is erasing
my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own
self-centeredness. It is the antidote to
my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right
perspective when I see myself as a great
builder. As one of the people who show up at a job
that they will never see finished,
to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went
so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be
built in our lifetime because there
are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to
tell the friend he's bringing home
from college for Thanksgiving, "My Mom gets up at 4 in
the morning and bakes homemade
pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three
hours and presses all the linens for
the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a
monument to myself. I just want him
to want to come home. Then, if there is anything to
say to his friend, it could be, "You're
gonna love it here!"
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. Wecan
not be seen if we're doing it right.
And one day, it is very possible that the world will
marvel, not only at what we have built,
but at the beauty that has been added to the world by
the sacrifices of invisible women.

I'm melting...

Anyone curious what would happen if your 8 year old left 3 Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies in her pocket and it went through the wash? Here's the dryer aftermath.



It took over an hour to scrub it clean. How about that BIG hunk at the top? There were still 2 of them left in the clear plastic wrap that were floating around my dryer. The clothes smelled strange and of course had to be washed again. It looked like my kids had been rolling around in the mud.

Cold Coco

My little Pomeranian Cora Estelle (Coco for short) was so pumped to go outside yesterday. I let her out and she just ran around the yard. She's learning to tunnel through the snow, but hasn't quite figured it out yet. About 10 minutes after I let her out, I whistled for her to come back in. I opened up the door and this is what I found.




Her entire underbelly was coverd with huge snow balls. It looked like someone hot glued foam balls to her chest, legs, and tummy. The biggest was about 3 inches long. It took over and hour for them all to melt and I found little puddles of water all over the house. Isn't she sweet?

Thursday night tv

I was so excited for Thursday night tv!

First, the return of LOST. This is a show that I loved when it first came out, then it turned too sci-fi. Then I fell in love with it again. I had so many questions after last season finale and only a few were answered last night. What did I expect? They can't answer them all in one episode.

Next, the premiere of Eli Stone. It's about an attorney at a big law firm in San Fran. He has visions...funny ones. I can see this show being one of my absolute favorites this year. I tend to love legal shows anyway, but this one really is good. I laughed a lot and cried a little. You can't blame me for crying. A man with a brain aneurysm....that hit too close to home.