$32

Do you ever feel as if you are just going through the motions of life - not really making a big difference?

Head over to Shlog and look at WHAT A DIFFERENCE  $32 CAN MAKE!

You will find it amazing....

Empty and Beautiful

I received a free CD in the mail last week.  I first heard about Matt Maher through Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.  She wrote about Matt's new album - Empty and Beautiful - and how the lyrics had influenced her during the first week she listened to it.  I flipped on over to his site and signed myself right up - and what do you know?  A few days later I was inserting my very own CD into the car as I drove out of the driveway, like I do every afternoon to cart the kids all over tarnation.

I can't tell you how much I love it!  It is upbeat and positive.  The lyrics are full of depth.  My favorite song is the first, "Your Grace is Enough".  We sing it at church on occasion - even Reed knows the words.  Caroline was talking about how she likes this version better than the one we usually sing because of the inflections he adds to the chorus.  I love it because it reminds me that Jesus shares his grace with me every single day.  and it is enough - it's just as much as I need.  Believe me, I need a ton of grace to make it through each and every day.

You can have this music, too.  It's on sale for just $8.97.  I think you will find it to be an encouragement to you as you listen.  I can't wait to add it to my playlist as I run my 40 miles to get ready for Houston in January and my big birthday next March!

Thanks Matt for brightening my week with such a happy and uplifting album.  Now, when are you coming to East Tennessee for a concert?

Stating the Obvious, or Not

How often do you notice something about someone - maybe it's new - maybe it's not. Should you say something, or should you just go on pretending that everything is just as it has always been?

I'm not really talking about spinach in your friend's teeth or an errant zipper that needs to be "xyz pdq'd" (examine your zipper pretty darn quick). You absolutely should comment and save that soul from embarrassing themselves in front of who knows how many that day. Nor am I talking about wondering whether an aquaintance is expecting a baby, or if they have gained a bit of weight around the middle. Surely we all know by now that we should never ask about a due date until it has been announced personally by the one with the larger middle.

With that being said, when you see a friend or a "frainquence" (a friend that is really more on the side of an acquaintance) - not to be confused with a frenemy (that would be a friend that treats you like an enemy) - you should comment when said friend who used to look like this....

suddenly appears looking like this:

Otherwise you will look like this:

as you try to carry on a normal conversation, suffering through an abrupt halt in your line of thought as you try to ignore the monkey in the room.

Slumber Parties

Cole went to a slumber party at his best buddy's house last night.  The occasion was to celebrate his 6th birthday - which occurred amidst great sickness at their house - in February.  Due to many different schedules (and continued sickness), the party is a few months late.  However, when you are 6, the delays are not easily understood.  Cole has been talking about this sleepover for months.  Every week, at least once or twice, he would remind me that he still hadn't gotten to go to Nate's.  When was the sleepover going to be?  Why can't it be now?  But we said it was going to be a long time ago! How come...?  

It's hard to see beyond yourself - when you are 6.  and 30 something.  I continued to explain that it would eventually work out.  But that didn't help him much in the anticipation department.  Monday Cole came home with a fever.  He still had it on Wednesday morning. Again, I was beginning to think that the sleepover would have to be way-laid due to sickness.  

Happily, Friday rolled around, and Cole was well enough to go.  He was packed before school started.  He wore his overnight backpack around the house for hours.  After school, he counted down the minutes until we would leave.  The car was filled with elation and great expectations during the 5 minute drive to his house.

I checked on him around 9:30 - or really - I was checking on his parents - to make sure they were still surviving the 4 little scoundrels.  (maybe I was really trying to see if the scoundrels had survived).  They were all tucked in bed.  Quiet.  Hopefully they would all go to sleep soon.

Suddenly the phone rang around 11:00.  A phone call that late can never be good.  Sure enough, it was AJ calling to say that Cole was fully dressed and ready to head home for the night.  What??  This has been a night of great anticipation!  Why would he be ready to come home?  He never wants to come home.  He would gladly trade all 5 of us in just to live in peace, love and harmony with Nate and his family.  His mom is the world's best cook (he had also been discussing the possibilities for breakfast).  His dad is the "funnest" - he chases them all over the house.  His sister is the cutest little thing you've ever seen.  Plus he has an adorable kitty named "Lucky".

Hubs went to pick him up while I put his brothers and their friends to bed.  He waltzed in, bright as could be.  Evidently, he and Mack had never been to sleep.  I haven't tapped in to what exactly they had been doing while the other 2 slept - but believe me - we will discuss it in full today.  Both Cole and Mack ended up in their own beds last night.  

You know me, I am just sad for the party boy.  Poor Nate was asleep when they left and would be waking up to find that his best friends had bailed on his party.  Sure, I know there will be many other nights for sleepovers, but with all of the waiting and planning, I am sure he will be sad to be breakfasting without his 2 pals.

We're sorry, Nate!  Somehow the sleepover monster swooped in and busted up the plans.

The Chimneys

I have a new story to tell.  I think I am ready to tell you about one of the longest hikes I have ever taken.

Let’s go back to the Fall of 1994.  Hubs and I decided we would go to the UT/Alabama football game with 2 other couples from medical school.  One pair were UT fans and the other poor souls pulled for Alabama.  We borrowed a mini-van from our generous Sunday School teachers and headed across the state.  Our drive took a good 6 to 7 hours, but it passed quickly as conversation was plentiful.  There’s always a lot to say at the beginning of a trip, isn’t there? Our plan was to stay in a cabin in Gatlinburg, go to the UT game, and leave after breakfast on Sunday.  Let’s just sit and focus on the word “breakfast”.  I do believe that word is defined by the eating of food.  You eat breakfast in the morning.  It is the key to a successful day.  At least that is what my mom and dad always taught.

Maybe this would be the best time to describe my favorite 1994 breakfast food.  In Gatlinburg, there is a restaurant called The Pancake Pantry.  They serve pancakes (amidst eggs, blintzes, waffles, bacon, sausage).   You get the idea.  Well, they also serve Swiss Chocolate Chip Pancakes.  This was hands down my 1994, 1993, 1992 favorite.  In fact, chocolate chip pancakes were my favorite since way back when I was 8 or 9.  But the Swiss ones were tops – and only found in Gatlinburg.  So, you can understand how much I was looking forward to breakfast on Sunday morning.  Have I mentioned that we had been planning to have breakfast before we left the mountains?

So, we arrived at our cabin.  Slept.  Awoke.  Headed out to the game.  The game was a bust for the Alabama fans.  That was no tragedy.  We had a blast as a part of Big Orange Saturday.  We usually were trapped in our houses watching the games on our 26” televisions.  It is certainly more fun to be a part of the 90,000 people in orange.  Even though it is deafening.  After the game, we celebrated our victory and rubbed in their loss at some burger joint on the strip.  We then traveled back to Gatlinburg along with all 85,000 other Big Orange Fans.  Meaning:  the trip took forever on those traffic stricken curvy roads.

The next morning we arose slowly.  We ventured out to the living room.  I was imagining those fluffy chocolate chips melting in my mouth.  I was ready to shower and head out.  After all, there is always a long wait at The Pantry.  However, the rest of the crowd had a new idea.  They were “tossing around” the idea of hiking to The Chimneys.  Ummm, excuse me.  What about my pancakes?  No one seemed to care too much about my dream to indulge in pancakes.  The really didn’t care that I was not a big football fan and had agreed to the trip thinking that pancakes would be mighty tasty on Sunday.  I felt invisible.  My needs were absolutely and completely ignored.

In fact, 3 grown men were fully agreeable to skipping breakfast and hiking up a mountain just to see The Chimneys.  Because I am such a cooperative team player, I agreed to accompany them on their jaunt.  But I was steaming mad.  Mad as a hornet.  My feelings were hurt.  I was hungry.  And I am stubborn.  That is why, when everyone else fixed themselves pb & j sandwiches, I did not.  No, I was furious.  I was not cooperating with them.  No way, no how was I going to let them think I was happy with this ridiculous idea.  To be clear – all 3 men had class the next day in Memphis.  7 hours away.  And at 10 am, they were deciding to hike all day and then drive back across the state of TN.

Off we went.  Parked the car.  Up the mountain.  In our discussions, everyone else failed to mention to me that this hike would be straight up.  It was no leisurely hike.  No, it was level:  impossible.  Especially impossible on an empty stomach. It was a climb that took us 1350 feet up one side of the mountain and I have to say that I complained most of the way.  I looked for hope in the eyes of the hikers whom we passed.  I just wanted to see a promise of the trail easing up.  I needed them to tell me that I would make it.  I wasn’t sure.  Had I not been with these impossible men, I most certainly would have given way to tears.  But I was stubborn.  And foolish.

After about 2 hours of climbing, we did indeed reach the top.  Whoop-dee-do.  We were at the top of some mountain.  Gazing at I don’t know what – the chimneys.  At the top, most people sit down and have a picnic as they gaze at natural beauty.  Well,  those with food do anyway….   Unfortunately for me, I had nothing.  No lunch.  No breakfast.  No restaurants anywhere in sight.  I had to stand strong.  I am stubborn and to acknowledge that I needed food would have been weak.

I realized an amazing truth that day.  I mean, I knew it was true in words, but not in times of great sacrifice.  The truth?  I married a super guy and he really, really loved me.  He took his sandwich, broke it in two, and gave it to me.  Please note that I did not ask.  He didn’t ridicule me for being stubborn.  He didn’t embarrass me in front of our friends.  He very quietly and kindly, gave half of this squished pb &j sandwich to one very starving and humbled 24 year old girl.

I guess I learned a few things that day.  Food does make one feel better.  Stubbornness doesn’t get you anywhere when you are hungry.  The Pancake Pantry had been there for 40-somethin’ years and it would be there when I came back.  And most important of all:  I experienced how much he loved me.  He told me all of the time.  I just didn’t really see it until he had to sacrifice his own comfort for me.  Finally, I learned that he makes a really good peanut butter sandwich!

40 Before 40

40 things I will do (or at least attempt) before I turn 40...

1. Run 40 miles.  No, not at one time.  Just 40 miles.  I wouldn't want to put myself into shock.

2. Climb Mt. LeConte

3. Read 40 books.

4. Learn something about graphic art - at least enough to understand my blog header.

5. Start taking piano lessons

6. Learn to change/add ringtones on my cell phone.

7. Play more games

8. Paint at least one room in my house.

9. Understand/code HTML - that goes along with #4

10. Have 4 dinner parties

11. Learn to identify "travelling" in a basketball game.  After all of these years, you would think I would have it mastered by now.

12. Decide whether to take up tennis again.

13. Get our meals back under control.  Interpreted:  quit being lazy and use my brain.  I used to be so good at organizing!

14. Have my 2nd and very, very last garage sale.  After this year, I'm all done.

15. Sell something on Ebay.

16. Watch/help my youngest child learn to read.

17. Score a complete baseball game (without losing track when something exciting happens).

18. Watch all Bourne movies without falling asleep.  I've slept through 2 of 3....

19. Get all of our boxes unpacked and moved out of the house.  Some are still packed from our move to Mississippi 8 years ago.

20. Eat chocolate chip pancakes at the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg.  Oh my, they are the very best.

21. Take a yoga class

22. Host a chocolate fountain party

23. Take a cooking class

24. Hike (part of) the Appalachian Trail

25. Should I really go skinny dipping?  that would be a first....

26. Run a 5k race.

27. Go on an overnight camping trip.  Ohhh, don't know if I should have put that in writing.

28. Learn to belly dance.

29. Clean out the basement.

30. Take up BodyJam

31. Read the Bible through from cover to cover

32. Ski down a black slope

33. Get back into the splits again.  Notice I did not promise to repeat a high kick routine, or anything outlandish like that!

34. Try 10 new foods.  I've already tried rattlesnake.  I'm sure I can find a few other gross delicacies for me to partake of....

35. Memorize my most commonly used credit card.  I'm tired of looking it up!

36. Take each of my 4 children on a special outing.

37. Learn to identify a Copperhead!

38. Play Guitar Hero

39. Row again.

40. Run and WALK the Houston 1/2 Marathon on January 18, 2009.  Anyone want to join me?

326 more days till Friday, March 13, 2009!  Surely I'll be prepared for the new decade once I've lived through all of these adventures....

I have just one question for you...  How many people do you know who have their 40th birthday on Friday the 13th?  Bet I'm the only one!

Pattern and Color!

How do you like my new look?  Same girl with a little more spunk!

Thanks to Jennisa and Theresa for your creativity and graphic skills.  I think it's terrific!

About a month ago, I set out on a quest for a new face for my blog and I began selecting a few goals for the upcoming year.

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to name 40 goals?  and besides naming them, I'm sure applying them will be a challenge, too.  

I promise to be ready to bid the 30's good-bye when the time rolls around next March the 13th. I figure if 50 is the new 40, 40 must be the new 30 - without birthing children and changing diapers.  Halleluia!

 

Again

I actually composed the post below on Monday.  I was being completely sarcastic when I pondered which kid would like to be sick.

Guess what.  2 kids home from school today.  Fever and stomachache.

Tell somebody I was KIDDING!  

But I am enjoying the excuse to watch a little more Gilmore.

A New Favorite

I have a new favorite show.  Well, it's new to me.  Old to everyone else.  I just happen to work that way.  There are very few shows that I watch from pilot to finale.  In fact, I can't say I've followed any for that length of time.  Unless you want to count Little House on the Prairie.  I am sure I have seen every episode.  about 5 times.  I love it.  I will watch reruns whenever they are on - and when I have an excuse to sit down and watch.  which is never.

I guess I have also seen most Designing Women episodes, lots of The Waltons, and Friends.   I don't know what it is about re-runs that catch my attention.  Sometimes I just settle for the familiar.  Plus they remind me of happy stages of my life.   Well, not Friends, that was on during med school when I spent oodles of time alone.  But some nights we watched with our friends, Amy and Bill.  We had some great Seinfeld/Friends watching parties on Thursday nights.

Anyway, my niece, Meredith, introduced me to The Gilmore Girls in January.  It was quite timely.  Just in time for the longest ongoing throw-up episode in the history of our family.  So I had lots of time to sit and watch.  I started with episode 1, season 1 and watched all 9 disks.  I grew very attached to the characters during that week.  We ordered pizza on the nights Rorie and Loralei ordered pizza.  It felt like it was snowing outside as they traipsed through a blizzard.  (it was cold and raining here, but snow was more fun).  I am intrigued by the mom/daughter relationship and the townspeople are quirky enough to add a fair amount of humor.  The sarcasm is palpable - similar to the amount we must have in everyday life.  After all, sarcasm is a great mechanism for dealing with life's difficult moments without being scarred.  The mother and daughter have a rare form of authenticity as they both experience life at their own levels. They are honest and open with each other.  They tell it like it really is rather than holding back in order to "protect" the other from obvious reality.

Once I finished season 1, I had withdrawals.  I couldn't settle for the reruns on t.v..  I don't want to see Season 6 before 2, 3, 4, and 5!  Blockbuster doesn't carry them and Meredith's are at home, so I've been Gilmoreless.  I haven't even seen them at Target.  Hubs did find them at WalMart, but he also found them on Netflicks.  So, guess what!?!  Yes!  I signed up for Netflicks yesterday and Season 2 and 3 should arrived on Tuesday.  

I wonder who I can convince to be sick.  Now I need another good excuse to cuddle up on the couch for about 18 to 36 hours.....

April Fools

It’s been a fun day full of pranks at our house.  After I initiated my first two children in 2007, they have been just waiting for April 1^st to come back around.  Last year the 1^st was on a Sunday – a beautiful day – prime for sitting on the deck and drinking some good ‘ole iced tea.  I brewed a big batch for those two and invited them to sit and chat on the deck over a glass of unsweetened tea.  They had the biggest grins on their faces, not really understanding the occasion for such generosity from their mom.  I presented the tea with sliced lemons and a bowl full of sugar, which they liberally sprinkled into their glasses.  Strangely enough, the tea just didn’t take on the sweetness one would expect with a teaspoon of the granules.  And two teaspoons really grossed them out.  But they were diligent.  They tried again.  While hubs and I watched through the French doors….  It was “alarious” as Cole likes to say.  Unfortunately for them, tea will never taste sweet when you are pouring in salt by the spoonful.

 So, now you can see just why they have been so intent on revenge.  This morning my alarm clock went off at 5:30 am rather than 6:30.  Hubs even asked, “why is your alarm going off, and mine isn’t?”  He is the one who rises at such a dark hour on Tuesdays.  I quickly hit snooze and realized that my hooligans had started the day out a little early.  Caroline also greeted me with a smile on her face and some crazy get-up on.  She was dressed in quite a concoction of clothing when she greeted this morning.  I thought she had suddenly lost her mind.  The last trick I saw today was the swapping of cereal bags.  I began to prepare my bowl this morning when I realized that it was Raisin Bran rather than Honey Bunches of Oats ( yes, I still eat this most every morning – since college).  Oh, and the one that got the most attention, was Reed's trip downstairs to ask, "uh, mom?  What do you do when the toilet overflows?"  Now that got my attention.

 I’ll have to plan better next year.  I am sure with every year that passes, their pranks will evolve.  I'll make sure mine do, too.  But for now, I am having fun introducing them to the oldest tricks in the book.  They are stand-bys for some, but for the young, they are just “alarious”.  

Tonight will be fun.  I made Cole and Reed’s beds backwards and for Brooks and Caroline, they will find climbing into the sheets a bit difficult.  I spent the afternoon short-sheeting their beds.  Ahh the fun of being the most experienced and having some tricks up my sleeve.