Sunday Morning at Home

I am home this morning after a rough night with some physical problems. I still feel achy but mostly I feel grateful.

• I am grateful for my husband who took good care of me last night even though he was leaving on a business trip at 5 this morning. I am also grateful that he is such a hunk.

• I am grateful for the house that God gave us last summer and I am really grateful for all of the opportunities to entertain that we have had this summer. From work parties and family parties, to meeting my mother in law's new fiance, to hosting slumber parties and teenage boys who let you know they slept over by the open bags of chips in the kitchen and the cars in the driveway, I am grateful.



• I am grateful for our hunting dog's new owners. My husband had a four year old hunting dog who had been pointing since he could walk. He was a bundle of energy and was really not a good fit for our relatively small yard and also had not been able to hunt much at all this year or last year. Wade felt like he needed to find a new home for him and yesterday we did. A really nice couple who have a 14 year old pointer, 9 acres for Paco to run on, and who hunt regularly came to get him yesterday. It was a sad day for Wade but it also felt like the right thing to him. Goodbye Paco. Be happy.

• I am grateful for a quiet Sunday morning. Even though I'd prefer to be at church over being in bed being achy, this is pretty nice too.

Multitasking and Photography

Am I the only one who has to choose between taking pictures and being engaged in an activity? I just don't get how people multitask at parties and other family events. I am either taking pictures OR talking to people and having fun. I can't do both.

For example, we had a party at our house last night that was full of laughter, talking, eating, multi-generational xbox games, puppy patting (and feeding - yeah, I saw you), eating, advice giving, cooking, eating, and learning new recipes and the only picture I got that I am willing to post here was this one.

This is my husband's boss and she is an AMAZING cook. She made our rice, guacamole, and two kinds of salsa. It was so good! Both of her parents are chefs so she comes by it honestly. I have invited her to come over any time she wants as long as she comes about an hour before dinner time. I learned all kinds of little tricks from her.

I'd love some advice from you photographers out there in internet land. How do you have fun at an event, be involved as a host/parent/spouse/friend, and still get good pictures?

Sleep Numbers and Customer Service Love

After posting about not finding my sleep number, which you can read about here, I received two messages from customer service reps with Sleep Comfort encouraging me to go to their website or a store to get help figuring this problem out. I was so impressed by their concern about my sleep deprivation that I actually went to the mall yesterday and worked with a sales rep named Kendall to figure this thing out. It only took me three years. If that surprises you, you may want to read my procrastinator's post again.

Kendall, the sales rep, showed me how much more support I can get from the bed if I LOWER my sleep number. It seems counter intuitive but it really works! When you make the bed softer, your body is able to sink in where it needs to, which redistributes the air so that you are supported where you need it most to get your body realigned. He recommended that I try sleeping at a 20 for a week and see how I like it. I did it last night and it was very nice.

We got this bed because my in laws had one and it was so comfy. Also, after 20 years their air pump went out and when they called the company to purchase another one, the company shipped them a new one for FREE. You can't beat customer service like that.

So, I am NOW, finally, after three years, a Select Comfort fan. I recommend them. Tell all your friends. And if you live in the OKC area, go to Quail Springs Mall and ask for Kendall. He was really helpful even though he knew he wasn't going to get a sale from his time with us.

(Select Comfort does not know who I am and they have not paid me for this little advertisement. If they had, it would probably be much more professional looking. Maybe.)

God, Money, and The Serenity Prayer

I got riled up this morning listening to a podcast from This American Life about an oil company practice called fragging that creates a lot of really terrible waste. As I was thinking about that I began to think about Pepsi's use of fetal cells to develop a new diet drink. Then I thought about Planned Parenthood providing abortions to pimps and sex abusers. I tell you, I was RILED UP!

I was so riled up that I began to think about the amount of emotional energy I was using and how much energy I was willing to use the rest of the day on this issue. I began to ask myself and pray about whether this was something I could not change, thus needing serenity, or something I could change, thus needing courage. As I prayed and pondered, the phrase 'you cannot serve both God and money' formed in my mind.

I began to think about ways that phrase applies to me. I began to ask myself in what ways I serve money and call it serving God. At first I kind of patted myself on the back that I have cut back on my paid work hours to do what I feel God has called me to do. Then I realized that while I have cut back on my paycheck, I haven't really cut back on my spending and this has led to some financial strain on our family that will keep us from being able to give as freely as we would like. For me, serving God rather than money needs to mean budgeting and self discipline as well as working less. This will be a lot more difficult than judging those big bad oil companies, soft drink companies, or abortion providers.

This is what I love about the Serenity Prayer. The Lord uses it to bring me back to what I can change and that is almost always myself.

New Camera

In preparation for our vacation this summer we bought a new camera. It has been kind of hard for this non tech savvy person but I may be getting the hang of it. I took a few pictures of the dog yesterday and thought I'd show them to you.

Here's my favorite:

That is his happy attentive face. The expression is happy anticipation because he just brought you his ball or his stuffed animal. If you don't throw it for him he will pick it up and throw it at you. One time he got his stuffed animal onto the table when I ignored him. He's got mad skills.

That is his 'please stop taking pictures of me' face.

Okay, Charlie, but just for now.

Beginning a Project

I have been working on an 18 inch pillow embroidery project. Don't get too excited, there aren't any cool pictures yet. I thought I'd bring you in on the ground floor.

I am attempting to make my own design. I found some amazing patterns at Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread. I especially liked the Spring Garden Corner and I also wanted to incorporate a monogram if possible.

I worked quite a while on the arrangment and came up with this (sorry about the photo quality. The design is very light on Needle and Thread but isn't it pretty!?):



I want the colors to match the curtains but be more of a summer color scheme. The fabric I am using is cream colored ducking and I especially want to use some orange and green. Here are the curtains I am matching:

The thing is that it is actually really hard to figure out what colors to put next to one another. I guess the embroidery pattern makers are actually artists! Who knew?! Also, that pattern was going to take FOREVER.

So I gave up on that pattern and was cruising the internet for some other ideas. While I was looking for some inspiration I saw the pillow on the header of The Lettered Cottage. It is so pretty and the design is more free formed. I am going to try to make a pattern that incorporates the free form design of The Lettered Cottage pillow and the design of the Needle and Thread garden corner and includes some butterflies. No more monogram. It would just be too hard to make that cute.

Too hard for my level of artistic ability anyway.

The Gift of Neediness

Ahhhh . . . .

That's a sigh, not a scream. After a wonderful weekend of intentional self care and time with my hubby I am refreshed and ready to serve today.

The puppy slept in his crate for the first time last night. He only cried four times. He has the sweetest, most pitiful cry. It really sounds sad. But he stopped crying when the hubby told him to. I think he was just saying 'what the heck guys?' and 'seriously?'. But I slept wonderfully and woke up feeling so refreshed this morning.

Have you ever had a meal or a night's sleep that made you say, 'Thank you Lord for making me need sleep!' I think about that sometimes after a wonderful meal or a good night's sleep. God didn't have to make us to need sleep or food. He could have made us to just keep going and going like little Energizer bunnies until we die but he made us to need to stop and refuel and he made the refueling so wonderful!

When I think about that I'm reminded that he didn't have to make the world beautiful or make our eyes in a way that we could see the beauty. He didn't have to make us with taste buds or make food so varied and delicious. He didn't have to make sleep so luxuriant and make us long for it regularly. He didn't have to make our hearts with a God shaped hole that feels like it has found it's home when we find Him.


But He did. I'm so grateful.

Happiness

I am generally a happy girl. Lately though, there has been a lot of bummer stuff happening, some big and some small. I'll spare you the details and spare myself the time complaining but Friday afternoon I decided to take charge of the unhappiness I was feeling. I couldn't fix most of the things that were making me unhappy but I could do a few things that I knew would make me feel better. So . . . .

1. Friday night I made pasta primavera using a recipe from Cook's Country. My hubby helped me in the kitchen, which is one of my favorite things and it was yummy. I was still bummed but my tummy was happy.



2. Saturday morning I slept in a little bit. When I woke up I had a new resolution to improve my sleeping habits by moving the puppy to his crate (sorry Charlie!), buy some summer pajamas, and stop drinking Coke after lunch time from now on. I think this will help me feel better in general.



3. While I was getting dressed Saturday I took some time to play with the Puppy. Here's a video of what that fun looked like. He's so cute!
   
   
   



4. Then I went shopping. The day before I had considered shopping therapy but felt a little bit out of control so I waited. There were a few items I really needed though so I headed to Name Brand Clothing with a list and came home with 2 tops, 3 shorts, 1 pair of pants, 1 skirt, and 1 blazer for $81. Wahoo! Presto magico! I am happy again!

I know to look to Jesus to meet my needs and He does. I have been talking to the Lord about all this nearly non stop and I see Him working. This weekend I think He worked through time with my hubby, making and eating good food, sleep, playing with my puppy, talking and texting with my sisters and best friend, and shopping. Thank you Lord.

What makes you happy when you are really blue or just wrung out? I'm always looking for good ideas . . .

The Procrastinator's Store

I was just thinking about the procrastinator's store today and thought I'd re post this. :)

I've thought many times of starting a procrastinator's web store. Most of the time I think about this when I have put something off long enough that it's going to cost me something - money, my dignity, or just a lot more time.

The first time I thought of this concept was in graduate school. At that time, the internet was either just getting started or hadn't started yet so I thought it would be a good store for Boston's Faneuil Hall, right alongside the teddy bear store and the heart store.

My grad school roommate and I used to get the most amazing projects finished during the week term papers were due. We called it "creative procrastination". You should have seen the beautiful meals we would cook and the home decorating we could accomplish during term paper week! Our place settings were worthy of a Martha Stewart Living magazine spread. True works of art!

During one of these creative flights of fancy, I dreamed up the Procrastinator's Store. At this store you could find different kinds of alarm clocks - all set ahead of course. We would carry as many different types of calendars and day planners as there are available. One item I know would be a hot seller for the true procrastinator would be the "I'm Sorry" card. And there would have to be all kinds of belated birthday cards. Also, at the Procrastinator's Store, you could buy this year's calendar well into the Fall of the year.

Of course, the sales people would have to reject the notion that "poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part" and be ready to hurry! hurry! hurry! at a moment's notice. Really, to be able to work in the store they would have to be somewhat codependent because any healthy person would move on after about a week of the stress of working with procrastinators in their frenzy of "fixing this problem". But not our sales people! They would delight in their ability to help people "who really need them".

One other thing that we would offer would be self help seminars. Of course, we would never be able to guarantee the number of people who would attend the seminars because the true procrastinator would not sign up by the due date and would come in at the last minute begging to be allowed to attend. For this reason, the store would have to have a very fast copier for any handouts the speaker would need. This part of the Faneuil Hall store would not be possible on the website so our web store would offer seminars with "late registration fees", "late, late registration fees", and "if you hurry you can just make it registration fees". Our participants would pay a premium for their seminars because procrastinators are used to things costing more when you wait until the last minute.

Of course, many of our actual buyers would be people who love procrastinators. Procrastinators shop a lot, but frequently don't get around to actually buying something. For this reason, we might give into crass capitalism and actually stock tasteless quote signs that say things like "poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part". I know this would only serve to fuel the antagonism between the procrastinator and his loved ones and I hope we would resist this urge, but we would need to actually bring in some money so this might be a necessary evil.

We might be able to avoid such meanness though due to another terrific money making idea for the web store - selling advertising. No one clicks on advertisements like a procrastinator looking for a diversion. The Procrastinator's Web store site would produce more hits from the on screen advertising that the average website so we would be able to charge a prime rate to put an ad on our site.

Well, all of this is a great idea. Some one should do it. Maybe I will . . . next year.