Whew! Good Stuff!

I love Francis Frangipane. This video is a great example of why. Watch it. I think you'll be glad you did.

i LOVE this . . .

In no particular order, tonight I feel like writing about things I love:

1. I love Oklahoma. It has been my home state for more than thirty years. The people are friendly. There is beauty all around. My parents live here. And we have a great theme song, which I sing at the top of my lungs every time we cross the border from another state. 'Ohhhhhklahoma, where the wind comes screamin' down the plain!' Yeah. I sing the whole thing. Whatever conversation we are having can pause. If people are sleeping, I try to sing kind of quietly but it somehow wakes them up anyway. I don't know why.

2. I love my sisters. They are my best friends. They are the ones I call to rant, brag, cry, get advice, laugh, and make plans. I love hearing about the details of their lives and I love being a part of the good times and bad. I love their children like they were my own and enjoy their successes with pride and pray for them in their difficulties. My kids love their cousins more than anyone else on Earth. Oh, and did I mention we are going to see them in one more day!!!! Yippee Skippee!!!!


3. I love my hubby. He is so smart and sees things so clearly when they are cloudy to me. He is flat out crazy about me and lets me know it every day. I am such a lucky woman.


4. I love my doggy. He and our big, black dog were at my mom and dad's from Friday morning until Sunday night and I missed him so much. While he was there, he was eating his dinner with the big dog watching him. The big dog eats in the morning, don't worry. Charlie stopped during his chow down, turned and placed 3 pieces of dog food in front of Zeek, and resumed his meal. Isn't that sweet? That's just like him. He is sweet and funny and wonderful.


5. I love my kids. Our son has been home more lately and I have been enjoying heady conversations with him about quantum physics and the sovereignty of God. He's brilliant and it's always (ok, usually) been so fun being along for the ride as he grows up. Our daughter and I have been eating lunch together pretty often lately and I enjoy her so much! She and I have so many similar interests and I really feel honored to be her confidant. I am a blessed mama.


6. I love my job. As a counselor I do see some really sad things. In fact, I think Christian counselors should have front row seats to watch Satan being kicked into the firey pit by God at the judgement. But I also have a front row seat to some of the most amazing things God does and God does some amazing things! Also, because I work at a Christian ministry, I get to be close to some amazing people who love people only a little less than they love Jesus. Working with other believers on things that I think matter makes my life feel so worthwhile.

7. I love Christmas. How amazing is it that God came near?! Immanuel! God with us.

Glory to God in the highest and on Earth, peace among men upon whom his favor rests.

My Hubby

My husband rocks. One of his favorite things to do around this time of year is to act like what I'm asking for is ridiculous and then show up with it and have me open it early.

For example - he was pretty adamant that our lights looked bad last year so he was NOT doing it again this year. Then he showed up the next day with these three angels and made my house beautiful! :)


They were my Christmas present.

Then a few days later, after lots of eye rolls and 'seriously?'s, I got this.


My new fire pit was my birthday present. I love it! I'm about to go fire it up and make s'mores.

Yay! :)

It's Just Not Easy

We have teenagers.

Sometimes when they talk to us about a problem and we try to help by giving them advice they say "you just don't get it". Those are the times when we just need to listen.

But what I wish they could hear us saying is
"We've been there."
"It will get better."
"Some things are really hard but that doesn't mean it's not the right thing or that you are on the wrong path."
"You matter where you are. You are making a difference."
"Every day ordained for you was written in God's book before one of the came to be."
"Let days like this turn your faith that God loves you into intimacy with Him."
"Ask God what to do. He'll lead you."
"We aren't going to rescue you because we love you way too much."
"Pain does not mean quit."

I think one of the hardest things about being a teenager is feeling misunderstood. I think it's also one of the hardest things about being a parent.

The Way

"And you know the way to where I am going" Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" And Jesus said to him, "I am the way . . . "

Our Mountain Climber

Friday night we got a "don't freak out" phone call. Saturday morning we got a broken ankle diagnosis. Monday morning we got a cast.

Our sixteen year old was bouldering here:


What's bouldering, you ask? Bouldering is apparently rock wall climbing without a rope because you don't go high enough to hurt yourself.


I beg to differ.

While we were at the orthopedic clinic she saw a friend from school. He had broken both wrists and an elbow dunking a basketball. His mother reported that he had swung too high, gone horizontal, and let go at the wrong time. My daughter relayed his comment to me, 'it was my hands or my face'. When he left she said 'My friends are so bomb!" For those of you who don't spend time with teenagers, bomb means cool. She was so impressed by his injuries and so proud that she had seen him at the orthopedic clinic with her rock climbing, I mean bouldering, ankle.

While we were in the waiting room the morning news was talking about extreme sports in Africa. My daughter wants to go to Africa right now (as in, she wants to go RIGHT NOW or yesterday would have been better) so that was fun to watch and it also made her think of a question she's been meaning to ask me. "Will you and Dad give me sky diving for my 17th birthday?"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


No!


She is trying to figure out how she's going to get her skinny jeans on over that thing. If she can't do it, she'll have to go shopping for clothes she'll never wear again in four weeks. Goodwill Store, here we come!

Charlie Does Smile

I looked at the pictures on my last post of my adorable, happy dog and I think he looks sad. He usually looks really happy, even peppy! So I thought I would post a few happy Charlie pictures.


Just ignore the tired looking woman in this picture and know that Charlie was licking me and laughing at me at the moment this picture was being taken.


And finally, this is Charlie waiting for me to throw his ball. That's why his tail is so blurry. My camera is just not fast enough to keep up with the wag.

A List

I thought I would make a little list of the things I've been up to.

First the really big news!

What?! New garbage cans aren't big news to you? Actually, it's a composting bin. See the holes? They are actually a little bit too small. It was the biggest drill bit I could find but my hubby tells me that we have bigger ones. I spent some time researching composting this weekend and found this webpage with some great information for INEXPENSIVE and EASY composting ideas. Next Spring we will have beautiful, composted soil for all of my gardening ideas.

Second, I am sick again . . . or still. I may never get well. But to keep that from coming true, I am chewing these terrible vitamin c thingys that probably everyone else in my family would love because they taste like that sour candy that I hate. I am also sucking on zinc lozenges, which my make my mouth taste really yummy. I am also eating at least one Activia per day. This is the only immune system booster that I like. I may become like Michael Weston on Burn Notice. For those of you who haven't had the same opportunity to sit in front of the bube tube (or is it boob toob?) as much as me lately, that's a spy character on USA Network who eats a lot of yogurt. I am trying to make myself eat the kefir that I have fermenting on my counter but it may be a shade too healthy for me.

In other news, Charlie is still adorable and I took a few pictures of him this morning while I was getting that beautiful garbage can picture for you. Enjoy!


He got brushed, combed, trimmed and fluffed this morning. He goes to the groomer next Friday and I am really hoping he can avoid being shaved or combed all day. So far so good.

A Great Quote

“It matters not how great the pressure is, only where the pressure lies. As long as the pressure does not come between me and my Savior, but presses me to Him, then the greater the pressure, the greater my dependence on Him.” J. Hudson Taylor

He Hears You. He Sees You

I am sitting in my office experiencing a miracle. I just got flowers from my sweet, sweet husband.

Although that is wonderful, it's not the miracle.

Just this morning I was drifting back to sleep after my husband left for work and I prayed, "I sure would like to get some flowers today Lord" as I went to sleep.

When I got up I was feeling frustrated that I have been sick for so long. I went into work and talked to our administrative assistant about how I was feeling then went into my office and began working while listening to my 'worship' playlist. One of the songs was saying 'how good you are to wash over me' and I closed the door so that I could lift my heart in worship and surrender to the Lord. While the door was closed and I was telling the Lord that he is good and worth it all and that I receive what he wants for me, there was a knock on the door. It was one of our front desk volunteers with a big smile on her face saying I had a delivery.

As I was walking to the front desk I remembered my sleepy prayer and thought 'surely not!' then took a few more steps and thought 'it can't be flowers'. The whole way to the front desk (I work at the back of the building) I was arguing with myself. Then I got there and it is the most beautiful arrangement of orange (my favorite color) lilies and coral tipped yellow roses from my sweet husband with a note saying 'sorry you're not feeling well. I love you!"

I am in awe that my Abba was listening to my self pitying self this morning.

I am in awe that he loves me this much.

I am in awe that he knows that in my heart I've been asking if he was listening to me pray for healing, even though he has so faithfully shared with me what he is doing my character through this extended illness.

I am in awe that he would use my wonderful husband to bless me so much and to remind me of the many, many blessings in my life in spite of sickness.

His love reaches to the heavens and to my bedroom and to my office.

The McRib Conspiracy

My sweet hubby is on a diet that involves shots and 500 calories a day. I blogged about it but deleted the blog out of respect for the diet and my hubby.

ehem

But I will say that we are convinced that McDonald's brought back the McRib right now out of pure spite.

And I just fell in love with a sandwich from another blog. Of course, it is a grilled ham, cheese, pickle, and potato chip sandwich.

Oh. My. Goodness.

And I have never wanted to bake bread so much in my life.

A Sign

This is profound to me.

How many times do I think I'm in a situation

when I really am the situation?

Commercial for Someone Else's Blog

Have you seen Hyperbole and a Half? It tickles my funny bone more than anything I've seen in a long, long time. As in, just thinking about it kind of gives me a flashback of my stomach hurting from laughing so hard and makes me smile and chuckle. I think it probably says alot about my weird sense of humor but I am completely okay with that.

Go check it out.

Hidden in Christ

I don't know about you but I struggle with believing what people say about me too much. If I'm not careful I find myself evaluating everything I do and say and plan by whether certain people will be impressed or like it or like me more because of it. I think it comes from being a good girl growing up. Or else it caused me to be a good girl growing up.

But it has turned into idolatry.

If people praise me, I find my ego getting inflated.

And it can be pretty scary how inflated I can become.

If people doubt me or (gulp) don't like me I can begin to doubt all of my motives and dive into this spiral of self improvement and self doubt that is exhausting and dizzying.

What is the answer? Yesterday I found this verse that really spoke to me. It is Colossians 3:2-4 and it says "Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will appear also with him in glory."

That's what I want. I want to be hidden in Christ, knowing that whatever he says about me is true. Whatever he convicts me of he will give me the power to change. And then when he appears in all of his glory, I want to be right there with him.

Wasted Time

Today I had a 9AM, an 11AM, and a 3PM appointment on my schedule. It was already going to be a slow work day but I planned to use the time to get some paperwork done.

Around 11 my 11AM appointment rescheduled to 1PM. They were at the doctor's office. Cool. I totally get that. Doctors appointments take all day for some reason. We are sliding into managed health care apparently. A little before 1, the client knew that appointment also wouldn't happen due to the doctor time warp.

Hmmmm . . . what to do, what to do until 3? I had completed my paperwork so I was a little bit um . . . sleepy . . . so instead of taking a 5 hour energy, I took a 15 minute power nap in a counseling room.

Then I started thinking about my 3PM appointment. It occurred to me that she is normally an every other week session and she came last week because we had to cancel the week before. Did she know she was supposed to be at my office in 20 minutes? So I texted her a 'confirmation' text and . . . sure enough . . . she was planning to come next week. Thanks mono for messing up my calendar.

So, I got my stuff together and headed for the casa, thinking about all of the wonderful crafty things I could have done with the day if I had known I was finished at 10AM. GRRRR . . . a personal pep talk was required. I reminded myself of all the paperwork I gotten done and patted myself on the back and began thinking about what I would make for supper since I had more than 3 hours until it needed to be ready.

I decided on chicken pot pie with fall leaf cut outs for the top layer. I cooked the chicken breasts, made the white sauce, and texted my hubby to ask him to get milk on his way home if he wanted cereal in the morning. That's when he reminded me that he had a work dinner tonight. My teenager-still-living-at-home was eating with friends. And I had 3/4 of a Little Ceasar's cheese pizza left from lunch.

So finally I gave into the sulk that had been brewing since around lunch time and sat on the couch, eating cold pizza, drinking a coke (which I'll regret at 2 in the morning), and watching reruns of the Mentalist. I seriously don't know what else I could've done with what was left of the day.

Job and the Greatness of God

During the past month I spent some time in the book of Job. It wasn't because I thought I was going through the same thing (ha!). Actually, it was just a 'coincidence' that I started reading through the Bible chronologically and Job 'just happened' to be the book I was supposed to read.

I have read Job more than once and it has always bothered me. If you haven't read it lately, here is my paraphrase:

paraphrase - an explanation of something that is probably filled with mistakes that you would not have made if you knew Greek and Hebrew.

One day God was holding royal court and all of the angels were coming to be seen by Him. Even Satan came and when God asked him where he had been (as if He didn't know) Satan said, "wandering around on the Earth." Then God asked Satan, "Have you seen my servant Job? He is the best man down there."

S-C-R-E-E-C-H!!! HOLD IT A MINUTE!

Here's what I want to know - Why did God have to go and point Job out to SATAN, of all people (ahem, angels)?

Seriously!

The whole book kind of makes sense to me if you leave that part out. See, after this conversation, Satan (not God) goes and takes everything from Job that he owns and kills everyone in Job's family except for his nagging wife, who he probably left for spite. Then Satan goes back to God and God SAYS THE SAME THING to which Satan says, "of course he still serves you, you won't let me hurt his body" and God gives Satan permission to take everything except Job's life. Notice, he didn't tell Satan he had to leave Job's wife alive. See Job 2:9 to see why I think Satan left her alive. Then Satan gives Job a disgusting and painful physical malady that itches and hurts so much he scratchs himself with broken pottery (sorry, I know it's gross).

After this, Satan is finished with Job but then Job's friends start in on him. They spend most of the rest of the book telling Job he brought this on himself by sinning so much. Job defends himself and makes some really good points like the wicked prosper so you can't say that suffering shows that you are wicked. He does cry out to God, asking to know why all of this is happening but he also asserts that man cannot know the mind of God and that anything God does is good. I think one of the most amazing verses in the book is Job 19:25, where Job says, "I know my Redeemer lives and at the last will stand upon the earth." and then he says "and I will stand before Him. Wow!

Finally, close to the end of the book, God shows up. Whew! Finally, we are going to get an explanation for why all of this stuff has happened to Job, right?

Wrong!

God never tells Job about the angel parade or his conversation with Satan. He basically says to Job, "Who are you to question me?" and then tells Job about His greatness.

At the very end of the book, God blesses Job with a lot more than he had in the first place so that the end of his life was better than the beginning. He has more kids and they are beautiful, talented, and good. He has more money and more favor with everyone. He has a blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed life at the end.

Really, this is just a frustrating story to me as a person who loves God and knows God is love. I don't just mean that as a religious phrase - 'God is love'. I mean that I know God and He really IS love. He loves me (and you) SO MUCH. Spend any time with Him and you know that is true.

Here is what I have come to believe about what this book means and why God put it in the Bible. I don't know if it is what I will believe in a few years because I am learning all of the time. Maybe one of you will say something to me about this post that will change my mind, but for right now here is what I think about Job:

I think this book is about how AMAZING God is and that one point of this book is that it is worth even THAT MUCH pain in our lives for God to get glory. God got glory from Job worshipping Him and submitting to Him even when Job had lost everything. God got glory when Job said, "I don't know why this is happening but God is still God and He is still good and someday I will stand before Him because I am still His." And just God getting glory was worth the whole thing.

Worth losing his kids.

Worth losing everything he had ever worked for.

Worth losing his self esteem.

Worth losing his standing in the community.

God was worth it.

Why? Because God made everything. He cares for everything. He knows everything. He is powerful beyond description. He is more nurturing than any mother ever was. He is in control even when it seems like He has lost control.

And Satan was wrong. He thought that people only love God for what He gives them. But God knew that Job LOVED Him and God knew that God is worth being loved THAT MUCH. And that truth was so TRUE, so ACCURATE, so CORRECT, that it was worth everything that Job had to go through to say it.

A Little Bit of Crochet

I finished a couple of crochet projects while I was sick and thought I'd show you.

This is the baby blanket I was working on during the cruise. It is for the newborn son of a dear friend of our family's, Aaron Kunzler. Aaron was in our youth group when our son was a baby and he and Nelson, our son, had a special friendship that has lasted all of Nelson's life. His son was born in the middle of August and I am FINALLY well enough to go get my hands on that baby! The blanket is in the washer getting ready to take it to meet the little guy and I hope I get to see him this week. The pattern for this blanket is available on Lion Brand's website here.

This afghan was improvised from a v-stitch prayer shawl pattern and I love the yarn I used! It is Lion brand Homespun Prairie and it is my favorite yarn in many of their colors. It looks so ugly on their internet page because they take such a small swatch but is such a beautiful yarn with many different colors that self stripe. Here is a swatch picture from my afghan.

I know some people really like to use natural fibers but I like acrylic for afghans because it is easy to wash and can be really soft. This yarn has a great weight that stitches up really quickly.

I am almost finished with my crocheted bag that I mentioned in an earlier post. I'll post pictures of it when I'm finished.

Cuties Playing Soccer

If you haven't been to a peewee soccer game lately you need to go, but only if you can handle the cuteness, because there will be a lot of it. For example, this little girl is my niece, Calea.

Calea lost her front teeth this summer and one of them is growing back in. She was giving me all the details of how this is working out for her when I took this picture.

This is Cade, aka Batman, refusing to look at the camera. He was in rare form Saturday morning.


One of the benefits of being the adorable little brother is that you get to listen in on the team meetings and get in on the team snacks.



Calea is a good friend. She's the kind of friend who will commiserate with you about your battle scars,



Tell you off for sticking your tongue out at her,

then make up with you quickly so you can get on with having fun.

She'll even let you play with her hair if you are bored.

She's a fierce competitor though,

so don't mess with her.

Things Mono Is Teaching Me

I have learned more than I ever really wanted to know about mononucleosis in the last few weeks so I thought I'd share. Who knows? You might even find it interesting!

1. 95 percent of adults in America have had mono and once you have had it you are immune to it. If you have it as a child, you may not have any symptoms. (Web MD)


2. Once you have had mono, it can become active again without causing any symptoms and when it is active it can be spread to others. (Web MD)


3. The older you are, the longer it takes to get better. I am very old.


4. You shouldn't get a massage if you have a fever or infection of some kind. I got a massage on Friday, thinking it would help stimulate my immune system but I felt much worse afterward and after reading up on it I realized why. When you have a fever, your body is trying to isolate and destroy the infection. Massage stimulates circulation which is the opposite of isolation. (Check out this link about when not to massage.)


5. It is important to not 'push it' when you have mono but laying around all of the time isn't going to make you better so do what you can when you can.


6. I am leaving this bout of illness with some new insights about chronic illness that I hope I will use in the coming years. A few of those insights are:  a. People with chronic illness need their friends to stay in touch with them. We all tend to be 'out of sight, out of mind' so we must rely on the Holy Spirit's prompting. b. People with chronic illness don't need advice. They probably have more information than you do about their illness. c. Bringing a meal is always nice. Just because you are too tired to cook doesn't mean you want to order pizza again. d. People with chronic illness are tired of talking about their illness.

There, that's about it. I think I can get well now.



P.S. After re-reading this post, I noticed a couple ironies. First, it probably would have been helpful for me to have someone give me the advice, 'don't get a massage', before last Friday so point 6b isn't always applicable. (Smirk) Second, apparently point 6d isn't always true since I am posting about it AGAIN. Hmmm, maybe it would be better to say 'let people with chronic illness bring up their illness because most of the time they are tired of talking about it.'

My New Hobby

I have a new hobby thanks to Teva, Charlie's groomer. The last time I took him to see her I dropped him off at 8am and when I went to pick him up at 5:55pm, Teva brought him out still brushing him and apologizing for the two mats that were still on him. Bless his heart. Bless her heart more.

She said she had brushed him out and then bathed him but he had lots of mats close to his skin that she hadn't noticed so she let him air dry, combed him out as much as she could, then bathed him AGAIN and gave him a deep conditioner, then brushed him out while he was drying, then combed and picked and cut and brushed for the rest of the day. I'm sure she fit some other dogs in there somehow but obviously, we had a problem.

So, here's the thing. I brush that dog. I admit it had been about a week since I had bathed him and brushed him out but I thought I was doing a pretty good job so I asked Teva for some advice and here is what we do now: We comb him out. With a metal comb. At least every other day. All the way to the skin. If I do it every day it only takes about five minutes. If I skip a day it takes more like fifteen minutes and neither one of us is very happy by the time he is tangle free.

To attempt to distract me, he will lay on the side I am brushing. Then he'll hop down and bring me his ball.

Do you think you could resist that waggy tail? Well, I can. Because that puppy has to be combed! Every day! All the way to the skin! With a metal comb! Or I'm going to lose my groomer. And she's sweet, and wonderful, and does a nice job, and loves my puppy. She thinks his kisses are sweet. We love Teva. She's a keeper.

And just in case you think you would never have a dog that requires that much attention, feel free to come cuddle with this sweet ball of softness. He feels like the softest, fuzziest stuffed animal you ever felt. And he hugs you back. And if you are really nice he will kiss your nose. Totally worth it.

Things I Have Learned From My Clients

1. God really does support the humble and resist the proud. He is close to a broken and contrite heart.

2. People can recover from anything. Nothing is too big or terrible for God to heal it.

3. Sin will always take you farther than you thought you'd go, cost you more than you thought you'd pay, and keep you longer than you thought you'd stay.

4. This world is broken. I am broken. You are broken. We are all in desperate need of redemption. I am so thankful Redeemer is one of his names.

5. I don't have to know what the end of the journey looks like. Sometimes God just wants me to trust him for the next step.

6. Forgiveness is the most powerful thing a person can ever do.

Change Your Life Caramel Apples - Seriously.

I am not even going to try to be poetic about this. The entire purpose of this post is to get you to go to this blog post and get the recipe for these caramel apples. They are the BEST WAY to spend an Autumn afternoon. Amen.

Just in case it helps to inspire you to see a picture, here is the one she posted on her site.

Wait! Wait! If that didn't inspire you, how about this?

That's chocolate, caramel, and your choice of candy coating that delicious, juicy apple. You have to SLICE it to eat it! Bring it to a neighbor that you hope will forgive your yard this summer. Oh, you don't have one of those? Oh. Nevermind.

I Love

New balls of yarn.

Walking along difficult paths with dear ones and seeing the Holy Spirit join us, bringing meaning to pain.

Friends who I can call and say 'tell me the truth', trusting that my heart is safe.

Sisters who believe a sister hug can cure mono.

Young women who join my daughter on her life journey and deposit dreams and beauty into places her mother can not reach.

Seeing people love the people that I love.

My messy house that doesn't define me.

Knowing that 'all my days were written in Your book before one of them came to be' in a way that brings peace to my worst days and profound joy in unexpected places.

The Reframe

I was feeling so good this morning! For about an hour.

Then I started feeling puny again and got really sad.

Then I remembered that I had taken some ibuprofen at 5 and gone back to sleep which is why I woke up feeling better. I was so depressed.

I was beginning to think that I 'am' this sick, blah, lazy person. What I needed was a 'reframe'. In therapy we sometimes help people 'reframe' their problem. It's just another way to look at things that's more helpful. In my reframe I thought about what I had accomplished in that hour when I thought I was well. I actually got quite a bit done and felt like my old self again. I was happy, even a little bit bubbly and energetic. I kind of liked that girl.

That's who I will be when I am better and I will be better soon. Maybe not today or tomorrow but soon. Until then I can keep enjoying rest and I can trust myself a little more and give myself a break.

I AM FEVER FREE!!!

I'd love to sit and blog but I've got a to do list to get started on!

Have a GREAT DAY! I am going to!

Things I Will Do When I Feel Better

1. Buy mums.


2. Get out my fall decorations. I don't care how hot it is. School has started. Fall decorating may BEGIN!


3. Have a romantic date with my husband that doesn't include the words "I am so tired!"


4. Start "Couch to 5K". I have decided that running three mornings a week for 30 minutes would be the best type of excercise for me. I would get a little sun, be outside during my favorite time of day, and be doing something good for my body.


5. Trim the bushes around my house.


6. Buy some fall potpourri. I love Aromatique's Cinnamon Cider!


7. Make a delicious meal and serve it on a beautiful table setting.

I CAN'T WAIT! Right now though, I am going to rest.

Mono?

I have mono.

What!? Yep. Mono. No. I'm not a teenager.

So, in true 'make lemonade from lemons' fashion here are some thing I am enjoying as I REST (warning, I am using my Blackberry for these pictures because it would take too much energy to go get my camera):

I have finished 4 out of 16 granny squares for my crocheted bag. I like them! It's getting kind of hard to come up with variations that I like but I think I'm up to the challenge.
Charlie and I both love Tia Rosa Megathin chips. He has come to believe it's his birthright to have some anytime I am eating them. This belief began with the primary way he earns his keep, which is cleaning up things I drop on the floor while eating or cooking. Then I realized that he recognized the sound of the Megathin bag being opened and came running.(What? No! I'm not a sloppy chip eater!) Now he just sits down beside me while I'm eating them and we share.

More Fun At Home

Today my fever stayed pretty close to 100 and I was feeling cruddy this morning so I had to reschedule my sessions. After going to the pharmacy - and being very glad I didn't see anyone I knew since I was still in my pj's, don't judge, they look kind of like clothes - I came home and decided to do my best to enjoy the day off rather than feel sad about not going into the office. So here's what I've done so far.

I almost finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I hope to finish it tonight. After seeing the final movie I realized I hadn't really had time to read the books as they came out and began reading them. I'm really enjoying them. I had to get this one from the library but I also ordered it from Walmart because I want to own the whole set.
Then I watched "You've Got Mail", which is my sick day movie. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were such a perfect match and I love Meg's store and apartment. At the moment I can't even remember their character's names. Let's just call that fever brain.
As I was watching the movie, I worked on making this bag. I've tried a couple of times to make it and couldn't figure out the pattern but today it seemed easy. That's one of my favorite things about crafting. Your ability and knowledge increases without much effort just through the enjoyment of the craft. Here is what it looks like so far.
After the movie, I painted my toenails. I have decided to spend my pedicure money a different way so I am going to try doing my own toe nails again. I will miss the three week pedicures the professionals do. No matter what I try, my home pedi's never last more than a week but it's worth it. I used sparkles as a top coat and I like 'em!
Well, I'm starting to feel woozy again. I think I'll crash. I wish I could pull my feet under the blanket but I'm pretty committed to this pedicure.

What's your favorite thing to do on sick days? I'd love to hear some ideas. I'm afraid this may not be over for me.

This morning in celebration of 3 weeks of fever and tiredness I have been surfing the internet. Yes, I'm getting treatment and I may even be getting better.

But, I thought I would share a video with you that I have found inspiring this morning. It would probably be better than sharing the junk that's in my brain today.
I can't quite figure out how to get the video into my blog so I'll just give you the YOUTUBE address. (just click on YOUTUBE).

And here's a poem that the speaker mentions in the Ted talk. It's really good. I think?

Totally like whatever, you know?
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

In case you hadn't noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you're talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you're saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)'s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren't, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentences - so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don't think I'm uncool just because I've noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It's like what I've heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I'm just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we've just gotten to the point where it's just, like . . .
whatever!

And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we've become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.

Complaining

I am really grouchy today. Mostly because I have had fever for most of the last 22 days. Also because the specialist doesn't seem to think my symptoms match my personal diagnosis and doesn't have another explanation or seem to feel the need to look for one. Also because my symptoms go away when I go to the specialist but that's the only time they go away (other than a few days on the cruise). And probably also because I was at the hospital from midnight to 2AM this morning to be told that 1) I don't have fever (for the first time in a few days) and 2) I'm fine.

And just to put some icing on the cake, rather than using that stretchy, non stick tape after taking my blood last night, they used commercial grade adhesive to attach that cotton ball and it has changed the landscape of my arm. Last time the same hospital took blood, the plebotomist didn't put any pressure on the cotton ball at all, which resulted in a large bruise where there is now less skin. And I'm scheduled to have surgery at that hospital at the end of September. I am calling my primary care doctor for a second opinion/new doctor tomorrow.

I'm also grouchy because the big dog had to be inside all week due to our fence being down and my puppy, aka my serotonin enhancer, has developed a disgusting crush on him. This may not sound like a big deal to you but I have had to be inside most of the week due to having fever, the big dog had to be inside all week due to the fence being down, and the puppy who would usually be a source of laughter and enjoyment has become a source of grossness and constant need of correction.

Okay, so apparently I'm going to have to just adjust my attitude.

Let's see . . . I made a new smoothie recipe today. It was pretty good and could be great with a lot more sugar. I also found a recipe for a melon martini that I plan to try very soon. Tomorrow I am making a new crescent roll, egg, sausage roll recipe for breakfast and later this week I'll make a new slow cooker recipe for supper. So, all of this house time is going to be good for something. We may get fat but we'll be happy.

. . . And the big dog is now in his crate, which he likes, and the puppy is curled up contentedly beside me, which I like. The big dog can spend more time outside now that my husband fixed most of the fence and put a barrier up for the fence part that Lowes and Home Depot were out of - there has been a rush on fencing around here thanks to a crazy straight wind storm that blew through while we were on our glorious cruise.

Remember the cruise? Ah, yeah mon! Just thinking about Jamaica makes it better . . .

To Paint or Not To Paint?

We allowed our kids to pick their rooms' paint colors when we moved into this house. My daughter picked 4 colors of olive and tan. Our painter was not thrilled. My son picked navy blue. When he moved to college this week she moved into his room and he will move into her old room, which is smaller, when he comes home.

I bought this bed at a garage sale and I love it.

I planned to put it in my daughter's room when she moved to the navy room and just polish it up a bit. The side rails especially need attention, as you can see. But now my daughter has decided she doesn't want the bed in her room. I think she just doesn't want to go through the hassle of putting it together and doesn't want me to mess around in her room. She's Miss Independent and always has been.

So, now I have this gorgeous bed that I will use in one of the bedrooms in this house. We have two black dressers and I want to have a black and blue room. Here is an inspiration picture that kind of communicates the color scheme.


We have a comforter set that is more like this minus the pink:

So, here's the big dilemma - I'm thinking about painting the bed black. What do you think?

Fun

Carnival calls its ships Funships and there's a good reason for that. There's a party by the pool all of the time, movies on a great big screen every night, and the waiters and waitresses sing for you at the end of dinner and even dance with you occaisionally. Our waitress was Anoma and it was her first cruise. She did a great job, knew our names, and danced with Micayla one night. We loved her!

In the Grand Caymans we went snorkeling and swam with stingrays. Actually, in the interest of truth in blogging, I should admit that my family snorkeled and swam with stingrays. I was in the water with the stingrays for long enough to realize that I needed to take some pictures and spent the whole snorkeling time trying to figure out how to breath through that thing.

The last stop was Cozumel. We went to a private beach there too. Nelson made a beach sofa. Wade floated around on a raft.

And Micayla and I got henna tattoes.



I got a butterfly which represents new life to me and Micayla got a lion for the Lion of Judah. I feel a little bit like telling people it's not a real tattoo now that I'm home but that's exactly what I loved about the cruise. I didn't feel like that one time on that ship.