This is a shameless attempt to win something that I am in need of, but haven't found one that would meet my needs for the photography stuff as of yet...
I found this contest on MckMama's site and thought I'd enter, just for kicks and giggles...would be beyond thrilled to win...although my chances are quite slim...but, you don't know unless you try...
it's a gorgeous bag nonetheless...
I'll post more about V-day celebrations later this weekend! Kiss your sweetie!!!
Friday, February 12, 2010
So, I'm packing
I started packing...
I know that it's CRAZY early to start packing now...and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do without my pjs, socks and other necessities that I keep smashing into the bag since we're not actually leaving for quite awhile...but, just call me ambitious or crazy, you pick...
Our goal this year is combine everything our family of 5 needs into 2 suitcases...TWO...that's it...Now, to some that is MORE than enough room to store a few outfits per person and a few other necessary items...and this post may seem utterly ridiculous to you...so if you'd rather go watch American Idol or surf through channels on the dish network, I would advise you to leave now...
For our family of GIRLS, trying to fit all of our "stuff" into a small rectangular case is a challenge...it's not the "fitting" part that is hard...because we are masters at rolling, crumping, smooshing things into places you wouldn't even know that a suitcase had...what IS hard is trying to decide WHAT to bring in the first place...
I've packed and repacked at least 5 times for each of the girls and myself...not only does the weather keep changing, but I don't really remember what I like to wear in warmer weather until I've been wearing it for awhile...and you see, I can't really wear shorts and tees around our house b/c my darling Italian Stallion likes to keep that thermostat at an energy saving level...so I mostly adorn slippers, sweatpants and have been known to occassionally don my winter jacket during meal times around the table...
Not to mention the fact that my children have grown like 10 inches since last summer and we can't find things that fit let alone match...and so I put stuff in, take stuff out, put something else in, nahhh, maybe we won't need that...oh stick it in for just in case...
Yes, I'm a Just In Case person too...And after this past week, we're bringing our entire medicine cabinet with us...Italian Stallion asked me yesterday, "Honey, do we NEED to bring the stethescope?" (yes, we own one of those)...I just stared him in the eye...as if to say, "Do you DARE ask this exhausted mother who held her screaming/coughing child down on a doctor's table to receive massive and painful injections of antibiotics whether she wants to bring a medical item that she feels secure in taking...???" I don't really care if I wanted to bring a 1000 tongue depressors...after this week, I feel that I have EARNED it!
This weekend is my "take a couple hours for myself" weekend and I'm going to run myself through all the stores to try to find the last minute items that we need...like, earplugs, a swim suit that fits, some shorts without holes in the bum, flip flops or cros shoes with actual tread on the bottom...and heck, if I find some tongue depressors...I may just buy them too!!
I know that it's CRAZY early to start packing now...and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do without my pjs, socks and other necessities that I keep smashing into the bag since we're not actually leaving for quite awhile...but, just call me ambitious or crazy, you pick...
Our goal this year is combine everything our family of 5 needs into 2 suitcases...TWO...that's it...Now, to some that is MORE than enough room to store a few outfits per person and a few other necessary items...and this post may seem utterly ridiculous to you...so if you'd rather go watch American Idol or surf through channels on the dish network, I would advise you to leave now...
For our family of GIRLS, trying to fit all of our "stuff" into a small rectangular case is a challenge...it's not the "fitting" part that is hard...because we are masters at rolling, crumping, smooshing things into places you wouldn't even know that a suitcase had...what IS hard is trying to decide WHAT to bring in the first place...
I've packed and repacked at least 5 times for each of the girls and myself...not only does the weather keep changing, but I don't really remember what I like to wear in warmer weather until I've been wearing it for awhile...and you see, I can't really wear shorts and tees around our house b/c my darling Italian Stallion likes to keep that thermostat at an energy saving level...so I mostly adorn slippers, sweatpants and have been known to occassionally don my winter jacket during meal times around the table...
Not to mention the fact that my children have grown like 10 inches since last summer and we can't find things that fit let alone match...and so I put stuff in, take stuff out, put something else in, nahhh, maybe we won't need that...oh stick it in for just in case...
Yes, I'm a Just In Case person too...And after this past week, we're bringing our entire medicine cabinet with us...Italian Stallion asked me yesterday, "Honey, do we NEED to bring the stethescope?" (yes, we own one of those)...I just stared him in the eye...as if to say, "Do you DARE ask this exhausted mother who held her screaming/coughing child down on a doctor's table to receive massive and painful injections of antibiotics whether she wants to bring a medical item that she feels secure in taking...???" I don't really care if I wanted to bring a 1000 tongue depressors...after this week, I feel that I have EARNED it!
This weekend is my "take a couple hours for myself" weekend and I'm going to run myself through all the stores to try to find the last minute items that we need...like, earplugs, a swim suit that fits, some shorts without holes in the bum, flip flops or cros shoes with actual tread on the bottom...and heck, if I find some tongue depressors...I may just buy them too!!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Driving in the FAST lane
It's amazing to me how FAST things can change...
One minute, she's strangling poor little Macy....
And 12 hours later, we're pumping her with so much stuff to try to get her little lethargic body to cool down...
Whew...I'm ready for a vacation!!!
Vacation you say? YES!!!
It's a coming!!! And we are soooo excited...I'll blog ALL about it once we return...but I'll just try to keep up with my regular,profound thoughts until then...
Speaking of vacation...
Umm...didn't you already speak of your upcoming vacation?
YES...but, THIS time I'm talking about Macie...you see Macie needs a vacation from us...or should I say from Little Munchkin...if you didn't notice in the picture above...
wait, I'll just show you again...
Notice the strangulation happening? This is termed "loving" in our house by my youngest child...Although I don't think Macie necessarily sees it that way...heck, she goes RUNNING the minute she sees LM on her way...Of course, Little Munch has realized that if you sneak up verrrrryyyy quietly while Macie is sleeping on the couch you can POUNCE on her and LOVE her all you want and she can't get away...
Oh Macie...I feel for you...that sad thing is dear little yorkie...you are heading to your real home soon...and that real home has TWO...count them...ONE TWO little 2 year old girls who are going to LOVE you just the same...
YES...our friends are on their way home from Kenya!! yippee...they get to bring their sweet new little girl home and we are excited to meet them...and I'm sure Macie will be excited to see her Momma...that is, until she realized that her "problem" has just doubled!!!
One minute, she's strangling poor little Macy....
Vacation you say? YES!!!
It's a coming!!! And we are soooo excited...I'll blog ALL about it once we return...but I'll just try to keep up with my regular,
Speaking of vacation...
Umm...didn't you already speak of your upcoming vacation?
YES...but, THIS time I'm talking about Macie...you see Macie needs a vacation from us...or should I say from Little Munchkin...if you didn't notice in the picture above...
wait, I'll just show you again...
Oh Macie...I feel for you...that sad thing is dear little yorkie...you are heading to your real home soon...and that real home has TWO...count them...ONE TWO little 2 year old girls who are going to LOVE you just the same...
YES...our friends are on their way home from Kenya!! yippee...they get to bring their sweet new little girl home and we are excited to meet them...and I'm sure Macie will be excited to see her Momma...that is, until she realized that her "problem" has just doubled!!!
We LOVE you Macie!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Praise God for Antiobiotics!
I would have updated yesterday, but to be perfectly honest, I was just beat!
It has been a whirlwind of events for the past 48 hours...
The night before last was filled with vomit, diahrea, and "wittle sips" of wa-wa (water) after hacking up parts of her lungs. Little Munchkin slept much better than she had the night before, seeing as we finally had that silly fever under control...but, it was still filled with that congested cough from the pneumonia and the upset stomach due to all the fever reducing medicine we were pumping her with per the doctor's orders...
We awoke to a few phone calls from the school district who couldn't seem to decide whether to delay school, cancel school, send all the kids to Florida for the rest of the year...whatever...school was closed and that was nice in the fact that we could relax in the morning and not have to rush the girls out the door...however it put a little glinch in the plan of getting Little Munch to the doctor...because, really, do you WANT to bring a healthy kid into a doctor's office in the middle of flu season and winter viruses?? I think not...
So, Nana and Popi agreed to pick the girls up if we could get ourselves to daddy's office by 11am...this proved trickier than I thought, due to road conditions and the packing skills of my older girls who view an afternoon with Nana like a vacation and must pack EVERYTHING in their backpacks before leaving...
A toothbrush, American girl doll, every Littlest Petshop pet known to man and probably a stray sock later, we were in the mommy-van ready to roll. Fortunately we did not ROLL on the roads, though we did skid a few times and I had to ignore the cell phone calls from hubby wondering where I was so as not to run myself into the side of Costco's gas station...but we made it.
Once at the doctor's office, Little Munchkin was terrified, which is to be expected seeing that she got...ohhhh, about 8 sticks with needles and was prodded and poked enough times to send anyone to a crazy farm...(and I'm totally exaggerating...I know this...because my little sister had it 100 times worse than my sweet baby...but in the mental state that I am in, I'm trying to make it a bit lighter...so I hope you'll excuse my over zealous behavior with regards to my "silly" words)
When all was said and done, she was prescribed a VERY strong dose of antiobiotics for the next 13 days. They believe that the strep and scarlet fever rash are definitely bacterial and because pneumonia is a secondary infection AND because it hit her so hard and fast (typical of bacterial infections) they believe that this medication will knock it out of her system. Although, the pneumonia will take longer to recover from because of the fact that it's in the lungs and some other stuff I didn't understand...but after, "here's a prescription which should help her" I zoned out...dreaming of my daughter reaching age 3 and then going onto graduate and get married and give me grandbabies...YIKES...
So, she's getting better...we're getting a bit more sleep...except that I keep sneaking out of bed just to check on her...and my other two as well...We're staying home this week just to get her strength back...She was asking for spaghettios by the time we got back from the doctors...I would have hoped for a healthier choice, but it's food nonetheless and she hadn't eaten for 2 days, so Spaghetios Italiano it is my love!!
Thank you all for praying my girl...I don't understand how prayer works sometimes and I don't understand God's plan all the time either, but I'm so thankful that it was in his plan to get her healed this time around! We're not completely out of the woods, but we can see the clearing!!
It has been a whirlwind of events for the past 48 hours...
The night before last was filled with vomit, diahrea, and "wittle sips" of wa-wa (water) after hacking up parts of her lungs. Little Munchkin slept much better than she had the night before, seeing as we finally had that silly fever under control...but, it was still filled with that congested cough from the pneumonia and the upset stomach due to all the fever reducing medicine we were pumping her with per the doctor's orders...
We awoke to a few phone calls from the school district who couldn't seem to decide whether to delay school, cancel school, send all the kids to Florida for the rest of the year...whatever...school was closed and that was nice in the fact that we could relax in the morning and not have to rush the girls out the door...however it put a little glinch in the plan of getting Little Munch to the doctor...because, really, do you WANT to bring a healthy kid into a doctor's office in the middle of flu season and winter viruses?? I think not...
So, Nana and Popi agreed to pick the girls up if we could get ourselves to daddy's office by 11am...this proved trickier than I thought, due to road conditions and the packing skills of my older girls who view an afternoon with Nana like a vacation and must pack EVERYTHING in their backpacks before leaving...
A toothbrush, American girl doll, every Littlest Petshop pet known to man and probably a stray sock later, we were in the mommy-van ready to roll. Fortunately we did not ROLL on the roads, though we did skid a few times and I had to ignore the cell phone calls from hubby wondering where I was so as not to run myself into the side of Costco's gas station...but we made it.
Once at the doctor's office, Little Munchkin was terrified, which is to be expected seeing that she got...ohhhh, about 8 sticks with needles and was prodded and poked enough times to send anyone to a crazy farm...(and I'm totally exaggerating...I know this...because my little sister had it 100 times worse than my sweet baby...but in the mental state that I am in, I'm trying to make it a bit lighter...so I hope you'll excuse my over zealous behavior with regards to my "silly" words)
When all was said and done, she was prescribed a VERY strong dose of antiobiotics for the next 13 days. They believe that the strep and scarlet fever rash are definitely bacterial and because pneumonia is a secondary infection AND because it hit her so hard and fast (typical of bacterial infections) they believe that this medication will knock it out of her system. Although, the pneumonia will take longer to recover from because of the fact that it's in the lungs and some other stuff I didn't understand...but after, "here's a prescription which should help her" I zoned out...dreaming of my daughter reaching age 3 and then going onto graduate and get married and give me grandbabies...YIKES...
So, she's getting better...we're getting a bit more sleep...except that I keep sneaking out of bed just to check on her...and my other two as well...We're staying home this week just to get her strength back...She was asking for spaghettios by the time we got back from the doctors...I would have hoped for a healthier choice, but it's food nonetheless and she hadn't eaten for 2 days, so Spaghetios Italiano it is my love!!
Thank you all for praying my girl...I don't understand how prayer works sometimes and I don't understand God's plan all the time either, but I'm so thankful that it was in his plan to get her healed this time around! We're not completely out of the woods, but we can see the clearing!!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Just an update
Yesterday turned out to be pretty doggone yucky...
I use words like doggone and yucky because I have 3 little girls that remind me that we aren't "allowed" to use other certain words like "stupid, or hate, or words like that"...strong language people, STRONG language!
Why was it yucky you ask?
Let me just say that after staying up all night trying to get a 2 year old's fever under 104.5 with motrin, cool compresses and stripping her down...only to no avail, will put anyone in a tizzy.
With lack of sleep and incredible worry, I was a mess by 8 am and finally gave up waiting for the "silly" office to open and just called the on call doctor...who promptly told me to get in the car and get that baby over here asap!
Italian Stallion, also suffering from lack of sleep, showered and readied for work all the while helping me get Sweetpea out the door for school and the other two packed in the car to head out for our 35 minute drive to the doctors...makes you wonder why we don't switch to a different practice that was..say, CLOSER? but, i really do love the practice, in my heart of hearts...and so we drive..
Anyway, upon arrival I begin to notice the incredible red rash that has now taken over my little Munchkin's body...and again, as they take her temp (with motrin in her) the numbers 104.5 pop up again...now we've got the nurse poppin' around the room...
By the time the doctor came in Little Munchkin was asleep on my shoulder and Peanut was contentedly reading books...
We discovered that #1 Little Munch has a scarlet fever rash #2 she has an uncommon form of strep (which means, it's not really in her throat, but has manifested itself in other weird ways in her body) #3 she's got something else wrong, but we don't know what it is...
And so, they schedule her for some chest x-rays and blood cultures...I had held it together pretty well until then...i really had...but, once you start talking hospital talk, i have to fight pretty "doggone hard" not to go back in time to when I was 20 and my little sister lived out her last days in the hospital. I took a few seconds to compose myself, phoned Italian Stallion...and bless that man...he knows me...he knows me better than i know myself sometimes...he just said, I'm on my way.
nuf said...he's comin'...and so together we held down Little Munchkin so that they could take pictures of her chest and we talked with her as they stuck her umpteen times to try to find a vein to no avail and eventually had to give up and just get a CBC from her finger...and together we took turns holding her hot body and singing and swaying...and together we had to face her as they injected her with 2 massive doses of antiobiotics to try to knock this out of her...
And now...she lays next to me as write...fever coming down, but still miserable...we head back to the doctor tomorrow...i'm so thankful that they let us bring her home...but, we'll know more tomorrow...
she does have pneumonia on top of the rash and strep...that much we do know...
Please pray with us that her body will be healed soon.
I use words like doggone and yucky because I have 3 little girls that remind me that we aren't "allowed" to use other certain words like "stupid, or hate, or words like that"...strong language people, STRONG language!
Why was it yucky you ask?
Let me just say that after staying up all night trying to get a 2 year old's fever under 104.5 with motrin, cool compresses and stripping her down...only to no avail, will put anyone in a tizzy.
With lack of sleep and incredible worry, I was a mess by 8 am and finally gave up waiting for the "silly" office to open and just called the on call doctor...who promptly told me to get in the car and get that baby over here asap!
Italian Stallion, also suffering from lack of sleep, showered and readied for work all the while helping me get Sweetpea out the door for school and the other two packed in the car to head out for our 35 minute drive to the doctors...makes you wonder why we don't switch to a different practice that was..say, CLOSER? but, i really do love the practice, in my heart of hearts...and so we drive..
Anyway, upon arrival I begin to notice the incredible red rash that has now taken over my little Munchkin's body...and again, as they take her temp (with motrin in her) the numbers 104.5 pop up again...now we've got the nurse poppin' around the room...
By the time the doctor came in Little Munchkin was asleep on my shoulder and Peanut was contentedly reading books...
We discovered that #1 Little Munch has a scarlet fever rash #2 she has an uncommon form of strep (which means, it's not really in her throat, but has manifested itself in other weird ways in her body) #3 she's got something else wrong, but we don't know what it is...
And so, they schedule her for some chest x-rays and blood cultures...I had held it together pretty well until then...i really had...but, once you start talking hospital talk, i have to fight pretty "doggone hard" not to go back in time to when I was 20 and my little sister lived out her last days in the hospital. I took a few seconds to compose myself, phoned Italian Stallion...and bless that man...he knows me...he knows me better than i know myself sometimes...he just said, I'm on my way.
nuf said...he's comin'...and so together we held down Little Munchkin so that they could take pictures of her chest and we talked with her as they stuck her umpteen times to try to find a vein to no avail and eventually had to give up and just get a CBC from her finger...and together we took turns holding her hot body and singing and swaying...and together we had to face her as they injected her with 2 massive doses of antiobiotics to try to knock this out of her...
And now...she lays next to me as write...fever coming down, but still miserable...we head back to the doctor tomorrow...i'm so thankful that they let us bring her home...but, we'll know more tomorrow...
she does have pneumonia on top of the rash and strep...that much we do know...
Please pray with us that her body will be healed soon.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Does God care about my Happiness?
Whoa...totally just opened a can of worms here didn't I? YIKES... I'm not really asking you this question for my own understanding, rather to write a bit about what is going on inside my own mind. I have this question settled in my own heart...and whether someone agrees with me or not isn't really the point...it doesn't change what I believe God says as Truth, but it does cause some to really dig deep and ponder our purpose here...so, beware for a rather lengthy "discussion" in which I'd love to hear your input as well.
If I were to be honest, I FEEL sometimes that God doesn't really care about my happiness, but he sure does care about the happiness of others...those for which everything seems to go "right"...it sure feels like He was THEM to be happy...and going down that road of thinking leads to heartache and anger and distrust...believe me...I've been there! Now, I know I can find verses about how He desires for us to have life and have it abundantly and I don't doubt it...I'm just concentrating on this "happy" stuff and what it means...so bare with me...
So, yesterday, our pastor gave a talk and brought up a different scenario concerning "happiness"...I've heard happiness compared to "joy"...for example, we can be joyful and not happy...and although according to certain semantics and definitions, etc that can be true...from the way I define Joy...I'm telling you...in the midst of some pretty awful things happening, I wouldn't be able to admit that I necessarily have JOY...but, I DO choose something else...and I hadn't heard it described this way before...especially in relationships and decision making...
Pastor's talk wasn't really about God making us happy...in fact, his message was about relationships with others...even into the realms of sexuality, etc...it was a heavy talk given in compassion and extreme humility...
It really got me thinking though...here are his main points:
4 axioms that surround relationships
1)God creates everything to live Relationally
Think about it...we are all interdependent...and No, I"m not going to get all hippie, save the whales here...but, we ARE...the oceans depend on the moon, the food cycle, we were made to relate to one another...
2) Love is the default value in God's relational system
3) Happiness is the driving value in our culture
4) Successful decision making involves asking two guiding principles: 1-will this honor God? 2-will this be best for the other person.
I'm not trying to rewrite his sermon by any means, I just really appreciated what he had to say and though I see a lot of value in this for others (you'll see what I mean in a minute) it was also really pertinent to me and the decisions I make daily.
First of all he compares choosing LOVE rather than Happiness... Love in the sense that I choose a relationship with God over "what's in it for me"...which is WHOA wayyyy beyond today's society...in our constitution it says we have the right to the pursuit of happiness. I think it's innate in us to pursue what makes us feel good, makes us feel "happy"...
He referenced the verses in I Cor. 6:9-11...it says: Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God...and that is what some of you were...but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Whew...lots of stuff in there...Pastor Terry went on to discuss the covenant God set up with his people...and the covenant he set up for his people in marriage...he talked about a sexual junk drawer where all the other "stuff" that doesn't fit in the covenant of marriage, would be thrown...
as I said, heavy talk yesterday...it made my heart go out to those that believe that they have been created with certain urges toward the same sex...I don't doubt those feelings...but I do know that we can choose to honor God with our thoughts and actions and choose LOVE in a relationship with him rather than what we feel will make us happy. And MAN, that's hard...if I was told that my feelings that I have towards my husband were wrong and I couldn't act on them...holy cow, I'd have some pretty difficult days living moment by moment having to choose what honors God...
There are times that I have to choose to take God's epidural in order to do what honors him AND what is best for the other person, even when I KNOW it would make me happy to just tell them off and to get out of my life for good!
All in all, it was a good message yesterday and I appreciate the word pictures associated with it. I often think it's my "right" to have things my way, to make me and my family happy...I need to remember that that isn't what I was created for...I was created for a relationship with Him...and though, I may not be all happy-feely when I need to choose His way over my gut instincts...the more I'm learning about Him (studying the book of John right now) the more I find that choosing love over happy is worth it!
If I were to be honest, I FEEL sometimes that God doesn't really care about my happiness, but he sure does care about the happiness of others...those for which everything seems to go "right"...it sure feels like He was THEM to be happy...and going down that road of thinking leads to heartache and anger and distrust...believe me...I've been there! Now, I know I can find verses about how He desires for us to have life and have it abundantly and I don't doubt it...I'm just concentrating on this "happy" stuff and what it means...so bare with me...
So, yesterday, our pastor gave a talk and brought up a different scenario concerning "happiness"...I've heard happiness compared to "joy"...for example, we can be joyful and not happy...and although according to certain semantics and definitions, etc that can be true...from the way I define Joy...I'm telling you...in the midst of some pretty awful things happening, I wouldn't be able to admit that I necessarily have JOY...but, I DO choose something else...and I hadn't heard it described this way before...especially in relationships and decision making...
Pastor's talk wasn't really about God making us happy...in fact, his message was about relationships with others...even into the realms of sexuality, etc...it was a heavy talk given in compassion and extreme humility...
It really got me thinking though...here are his main points:
4 axioms that surround relationships
1)God creates everything to live Relationally
Think about it...we are all interdependent...and No, I"m not going to get all hippie, save the whales here...but, we ARE...the oceans depend on the moon, the food cycle, we were made to relate to one another...
2) Love is the default value in God's relational system
3) Happiness is the driving value in our culture
4) Successful decision making involves asking two guiding principles: 1-will this honor God? 2-will this be best for the other person.
I'm not trying to rewrite his sermon by any means, I just really appreciated what he had to say and though I see a lot of value in this for others (you'll see what I mean in a minute) it was also really pertinent to me and the decisions I make daily.
First of all he compares choosing LOVE rather than Happiness... Love in the sense that I choose a relationship with God over "what's in it for me"...which is WHOA wayyyy beyond today's society...in our constitution it says we have the right to the pursuit of happiness. I think it's innate in us to pursue what makes us feel good, makes us feel "happy"...
He referenced the verses in I Cor. 6:9-11...it says: Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God...and that is what some of you were...but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Whew...lots of stuff in there...Pastor Terry went on to discuss the covenant God set up with his people...and the covenant he set up for his people in marriage...he talked about a sexual junk drawer where all the other "stuff" that doesn't fit in the covenant of marriage, would be thrown...
as I said, heavy talk yesterday...it made my heart go out to those that believe that they have been created with certain urges toward the same sex...I don't doubt those feelings...but I do know that we can choose to honor God with our thoughts and actions and choose LOVE in a relationship with him rather than what we feel will make us happy. And MAN, that's hard...if I was told that my feelings that I have towards my husband were wrong and I couldn't act on them...holy cow, I'd have some pretty difficult days living moment by moment having to choose what honors God...
There are times that I have to choose to take God's epidural in order to do what honors him AND what is best for the other person, even when I KNOW it would make me happy to just tell them off and to get out of my life for good!
All in all, it was a good message yesterday and I appreciate the word pictures associated with it. I often think it's my "right" to have things my way, to make me and my family happy...I need to remember that that isn't what I was created for...I was created for a relationship with Him...and though, I may not be all happy-feely when I need to choose His way over my gut instincts...the more I'm learning about Him (studying the book of John right now) the more I find that choosing love over happy is worth it!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Snow
I'm not a big "Oh I love the cold" person. I laugh at the weather men who predict the "snow emergencies" only to have a light dusting...I'm not one who enjoys being cold...seeing that my extremities are always near the point of frostbite, I'm the one trying to slide the thermostat UP, the one you may find wearing gloves inside her own home, the one that will come out of a shower a bright red because the "hot water" was sooo nice, the one that will put the stove top on to warm her fingers after pouring a glass of milk...
yes, so all that said, it amazes me that when snow actually DOES arrive, I'm one of the first in this household to get outside...isn't it ironic? don't ya think?? (whoa could totally go into a song here...)
Anyway, we were warned...it had been foretold...we WERE going to get a snow storm...and I must admit...they were actually correct this time...The first time I went out on Friday to shovel, the snow was about 3-5 inches thick...I shoveled the driveway...most all of the men in our neighborhood have snowblowers...some have mercy on me, watching this poor, pathetic mother of 3 trying to shovel her driveway that is about 6 minivan lengths long...but, after awhile, I think they've resigned themselves to the thought, that "she really is nuts"...
And so I shoveled and hauled that snow into a huge pile...my ultimate goal being an igloo for the girls...outside of making snowmen, it's my highlight of the winter season!
When Italian Stallion came home he shoveled again (about another 2 inches had fallen) and by the next morning, when he shoveled again, he had another 5 inches to haul again...
Needless to say, our pile was rather large...it had settled some overnight, which is good for packing sake and for the sake of the one who'd be hollowing out the igloo...you know, in case of cave-ins and such...
I finished the dwelling around 11am on Saturday...I think the girls played in it all of 20 minutes...but, that's okay...cuz I did it...check it off my list...and head back inside to warm my hands on the stove!!!
yes, so all that said, it amazes me that when snow actually DOES arrive, I'm one of the first in this household to get outside...isn't it ironic? don't ya think?? (whoa could totally go into a song here...)
Anyway, we were warned...it had been foretold...we WERE going to get a snow storm...and I must admit...they were actually correct this time...The first time I went out on Friday to shovel, the snow was about 3-5 inches thick...I shoveled the driveway...
And so I shoveled and hauled that snow into a huge pile...my ultimate goal being an igloo for the girls...outside of making snowmen, it's my highlight of the winter season!
When Italian Stallion came home he shoveled again (about another 2 inches had fallen) and by the next morning, when he shoveled again, he had another 5 inches to haul again...
Needless to say, our pile was rather large...it had settled some overnight, which is good for packing sake and for the sake of the one who'd be hollowing out the igloo...you know, in case of cave-ins and such...
I finished the dwelling around 11am on Saturday...I think the girls played in it all of 20 minutes...but, that's okay...cuz I did it...check it off my list...and head back inside to warm my hands on the stove!!!
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