Gosh darnit if I didn't do it again.

But this time it was 1849 San Francisco. I haven't found an author in a long time who's writing I can get lost in so easily. It was a good day though. I worked. I did laundry. I went to Curves. I went to FPU. We had dinner with my mom while she was in town tonight. It's not like ALL I did today was read. I just did a lot of it.

Ahh ... sweet decadence of reading. What a wonderful past time.

And what a wonderful husband I have to allow me that guilty pleasure in life ...

(speaking of my wonderful husband - go read his blog from today. I laughed out loud. And I cried a little. It was sweet. And I swear I had no intention of "training" him ... there are just certain things that should be done during your daily routine ... but that's another blog all together. Off to make the bed with our freshly laundered sheets.)

I don't usually do this ... but how could I resist ...

an 80s Survey!!!!!!! (Okay ... I really don't do this ... like ever. But I just got such a kick out of reading it on another friend's blog, I felt the irrepressible desire to fill it out for myself.) So some of this pushes into the early 90s I think. But that's okay by me ... it was all that fabulous period of my life ... ahh ... memory lane ...

Did you listen to New Kids on the Block?
I had a pillow case with their faces on it ... I wore it thread bare ...

Did you ever own a slap bracelet?
Yes. Until my school outlawed them because we spent class time throwing them at each other and watching them snap and fly up into the air. It was great.

The Baby Sitter's Club or Sweet Valley High?
Baby Sitter's Club. I wanted to be Kristy.

Salute Your Shorts or Hey Dude?
Hey Dude. Hands down.

Kids Incorporated or The Mickey Mouse Club?
I remember watching both. But I think I preferred MMC

Did you want Dylan to end up w/ Brenda or Kelly?
So was not allowed to watch 90210.

Who was ALF?
Furry brown alien dude.

Do you remember the show Dinosaurs?
"I'm the baby. Gotta love me. Big purple eyes and I'm so cuddly!" I know I watched it. I can't remember any specifics though ...

Do/did you know the words to the Fresh Prince theme song?
"Iiiiiiiiinnnn west Philadelphia born and raised. On the playground was where I spent most of my days. Chillin out nights and relaxin all cool ..."
That would be a yes.

Kimmie Gibbler or Urkel?
Kimmie kind of annoyed me. I remember when both were on TGIF on ABC though. I think I'll go with Urkel.

Blossom or Clarissa Explains It All?
Clarissa. I tried so hard to convince my mom that I needed a baby pool with an alligator in it in my room. But I LOVED my Blossom hat. (Self made I might note. According to mom, I ruined a perfectly good church hat by pinning one side up with a sunflower pin I had.)

Did you have a crush on JTT?
Yeah.

Bobby Brown or Tevin Campbell?
neither

Step By Step or Full House?
Both. Though Full House has stood the test of time for me. Thank heavens for daytime reruns.

Did you listen to Milli Vanilli?
Sadly, yes I did. But I think it was because I was fascinated with a man's ability to sing like that.

Mr. Rogers or Reading Rainbow?
I watched both way longer than I should have. But I LOVED Reading Rainbow. "Butterfly in the sky. I can go twice as high. Take a look. It's in a book. A reading rainbow."

Did you own a Glo Worm?
I think I got my cousin's when she was done with it. I don't remember having one of my own though.

Paula Abdul: better now or then?
Then. How can you beat Scat Cat? Seriously.

Wild 'n' Crazy Kids or Double Dare?
Double Dare. I wanted to be on Family Double Dare so bad ... but there were only three people in my family, and my mom refused to get dirty ... :(

Remember Legends of the Hidden Temple?
I forgot about it until just now… I loved that show. Awesome.

The Mighty Ducks or The Little Giants?
Mighty Ducks. I had a crush on Emilio ... a major crush.

Did you watch Saved By The Bell?
Still do. And I'm not to proud to admit it.

Who was hotter: Zach or Slater
I'm a sucker for dimples ... but it was still Zach.

Camp Nowhere or House Arrest?
neither

Did you own a pair of Reebok Pumps?
oh yeah. The laces were pink and orange.

Care Bears or Smurfs?
I watched both of their cartoons. I loved the Care Bears' Movie, the one where they saved the boy who was a magician's assistant and his younger sister. Also, I had the most AWESOME Care-A-Lot playset.

Rainbow Brite or Strawberry Shortcake?
Strawberry Shortcake. Although, I had a couple of Rainbow Brite dolls that got their fair share of play time.

Did you watch Miami Vice?
no ... I feel like I missed out on something there ...

Did you own a pair of Jelly Shoes?
They were pink. Fuchsia really.

Did you own a Trapper Keeper?
Duh. Until we weren't allowed to have them at school because they took up too much space in the coat hook area. That was about the time they outlawed those backpacks that were on wheels.

Atari or Nintendo?
I've never owned a game system. Tyler has some, but I never have. My step-sisters and cousins had Nintendos. I enjoyed my fair share of Tetris and Duck Hunt. But that's about it.


So? It sparked memories for you too. I know it did. Share if you like ... :)

'Twas Sinfully Glorious

I got a new book this past weekend. We were in Columbus servicing my mom's computer. (She had an "emergency" and so felt the need to call in PC Geek - thing Geek Squad but slightly cheaper - instead of calling her daughter, and perhaps more importantly, her son-in-law. So we took off rather quickly to save her from those worthless charges.) Anywhoo ... as I've stated more than once, my mom likes to shop. And this weekend we added the bookstore to our list. More often than not, we go to Half Priced Books (ahh ... Heaven really must be a book store ... I'm sure of that.) but this time we were at Barnes & Noble. How wonderful book stores smell. How wonderful the colors and type on the covers of all the volumes. How wonderful the diversity of material. (Yes ... this truly must be Heaven ...)

I've grown up around books. I've always enjoyed reading. Even when I was sick and tired of reading for school, I always enjoyed my pleasure reading. I so enjoy the escape to another world that a well-written book provides. That being said, I also fear that, at least at some times, it can be sinfully glorious. Today was sinfully glorious.

I got a new book. It was a good book. I opened it this morning. It is finished. I did other work today, but none of it really mattered. I needed the escape. I needed the down time. I have done this once before in my life. I still remember that glorious, wonderful feeling of having lost an entire day to another world that is not my own. It is quite the rush for me. I was thinking about that first book ... and realized that this latest book is somewhat of a "grown up" version of that first book. Amazing how I haven't really changed all that much in the last 12 or so years.

At times I've wondered if I was born at the wrong point in history. Now, for all practical purposes I know I'm wrong. I enjoy my a/c, running water, indoor plumbing, and all of the 21st century conveniences. However, the hopeless romantic in me so easily gets lost in the majesty and mystery presented in tales of times gone by. I'm a junkie for historical fiction. It's just such a beautiful and carefree existence in the stories. I know better. But that doesn't change the little pangs in my gut for the simpler times portrayed in the books I truly enjoy.

And so, once I quiet my mind and return to today, to here and now, I'll go to bed and crawl in next to my peacefully sleeping husband. He went to bed several hours ago ... but I just couldn't put the book down. There was too much crucial action going on. And tomorrow, the "sinful" will sneak in on my glorious day. For tomorrow all the work that could have been accomplished today will still be there, piled on the work to be accomplished tomorrow. And I will have to function in reality, once again subject to the 21st century. But tonight I will just remember the glorious feeling. Tonight I will go to sleep with that cradling me. Tonight I will be in the 17th century. Tonight I will be on a Virginia tobacco farm. Tonight I will stay wrapped in the warmth of the love story I just finished reading.

Tomorrow I will iron ...

oops

I guess I let my blog go too long without an update. Sorry about that ...

We've been crazy busy. I went down in the middle of last week to see my mom. I needed the mommy time. I didn't realize it, but Tyler did and told me to go. I am super glad that he realized what was going on and that I needed to see mom. He's a good one ... definately a keeper. :)

We went to JT and Beth's wedding last weekend. It was really pretty. They had their reception at the Packard museum ... I was totally in love with the cars. I dig classics. It was beautiful there. Ahh ... cars ...

Sunday we went to the Columbus Arts Festival with mom. (We stayed with her on Saturday night after the wedding.) It was fun. She bought us a couple of really pretty Celtic harp cds. Good stuff. She also bought Tyler a painting of the Jake in Cleveland. It's really nice. I'm looking forward to finding a frame for it and getting it up on the wall.

I'm with Sophie 18 hours a week now. That's three 6 hour days. Today was good. we went to Curves, the bank, the library, the mall to spend some of her birthday gift cards, the post office ... I'm sure we went somewhere else. We were very productive. I'm there again on Thursday, she's with her dad tomorrow.

Okay ... time to down some dinner before Bible discussion group. Tyler cooked. It smells really good. Yeah ... he's definately a keeper. :P

babette ate oatmeal

(yes. I'm a Gilmore junkie. I admit it.)

So there's something that really frustrates me about Christianity and the Church. (Actually, there are a lot of things that frustrate me, but this post is only about one ... so on with the rant ...) There seems to be this line of thought or belief or theme or something that states when one prays, "God, use me." that God's use of you will be monumental. People say that they're scared to use that prayer because they're afraid of what will be asked of them. Why is it that the feeling is that being used by God means that He'll ask you to sell all of your belongings and move to a tiki hut in the middle of Africa to preach to the aborigines who only speak African clicking languages? Why must everything be newsworthy? Why do we assume that we'll be there to see and know that what we did was huge and a major impact in someone's life? Doesn't the Bible tell us that we're not always there to see the fruits of our labor? Why can't God using you look like you smiling at the cashier at Wal-Mart? Why can't it be feeding a friend dinner one night? Why can't it be sending an email or calling someone you're thinking about right then? How do we know that our small, seemingly insignificant actions don't mean the world to someone?

And so - this begs yet another question. Why must everything newsworthy be huge? We're the one's who define "newsworthy", so why not redefine it? I know that Tyler and I have been monumentally blessed and gifted by friends who thought they were doing nothing more than feeding us dinner. It was mundane to them - but monumental to us. We felt it was newsworthy. But did they ever realize that? Were they ever meant to? I don't know the answers to those questions. But, what I do know is that we too often overlook the mundane because it doesn't seem monumental to us. Perhaps we should shift our focus? Maybe that's the idea. Maybe the idea is to not be afraid of moving to Africa ...

God, use me.

Floods of Emotion

I am mad.

I am sad.

It is NOT fair.

And yet ... it's the cycle of life. I suppose that, at least for the foreseeable future it will be this way. My grief comes and goes ... that's to be expected. Yet, must it come on so ridiculously strong when it comes? Please don't read me wrong here - there's not a single day that I don't think about JZ. However, I really thought that I was to a point in time that most of the thoughts would be happy ones. I was enjoying thinking about him. Not so much anymore.

Perhaps that's what's going on ... perhaps not ...

Truth be told, I am happy to remember Z. I enjoy sharing those memories with friends. I believe I have moved on to mourning for Mandy. There isn't a single day that I don't think about her at least four times. I cry. I cry because Tyler waits on me to brush my teeth with him before we go to bed at night. I cry because Mandy goes to bed alone. I cry because I come home from work to find Tyler making dinner. I cry because Mandy comes home to no one making her dinner. I cry because I get frustrated with having to pick up Tyler's laundry that doesn't make it into the hamper, but instead lands on the floor beside the hamper. I cry because Mandy doesn't have anyone to pick up after but herself. I cry because I take Tyler for granted. I cry because Mandy doesn't have that luxury.

I cry because I am mad.

I cry because I am sad.

I cry because it is NOT fair.

I hate that my hands are tied. I am such an action person. I want to make it better. I know there's nothing I can do to make this any better. That doesn't matter to me. I feel worthless in this. I hate that. I pray. I think. I hope for the best. Yet I can't see the best. I can't even see good right now in this. I hate that. I am usually an optimist. Now I am not. I hate that.

I hate that I am mad.

I hate that I am sad.

I hate that it is NOT fair.

I LOVE Kids

So Sunday night after jOURney I went to the restroom. When I opened the door, I found two of our lovely little girls standing in their bare feet in the middle of the bathroom staring at the floor. Their both 4, but the older of the two (We'll call her E.) looked up at me and said that her shoes were soggy so she couldn't wear them.
Okay. Not a problem.

Me: "E, why are your shoes soggy?"
E: "I had to go to the bathroom but she (The other little girl, C.), was in there and I just couldn't wait anymore."
(It is important to note here that I knew the answer before I asked. I felt something wet on my toes as I walked into the bathroom ... and somehow I just knew.)
Me: "Okay E. That happens. C, are you finished here? Did you get to tinkle all that you had to?"
C: shakes her head
Me: "Okay. I'm going to pick you up and lift you out of the bathroom so that you don't accidentally step in anything on your way out. Go on and play with the boys ... E will be out soon." So I picked her up and got Tyler's attention from across the room. "I need E's mom to come here"
E's Mom: "What's up?"
Me: "She needed to tinkle but it was busy and she couldn't wait anymore." (We only have one toilet in the bathroom. It's small.) "So we need to clean up a little bit."
E's Mom: (to E) "You know that you can't wait that long. You need to go to the bathroom when you first have to go. You know that you can't hold it that long."
E: "I didn't think I had to go that bad. I'm sorry."

So we proceed to help E change. The bathroom isn't really big enough for three people to be in there at once - but yet, there we are. E is very concerned that she'll now have to wear her skirt without any panties. Her skirt is really a skort - but she's still very concerned that everyone will know that she's not wearing any panties. She's concerned about not having panties on - but she dropped her skirt with and panties to the floor without closing the bathroom door. The bathroom opens to directly to our worship and gathering space - which is also not huge. So we explain that if she doesn't tell anyone, no one will know and it will be our little secret. E's okay with that - after some coaxing. So by the time that E's mom and I have cleaned up the bathroom floor, and I've used the restroom, E has completely recovered and is running around like a banshee again - just as she usually is.

Man - I love kids ... I can't wait to have them around more often ... :)

Cincy in a Whirlwind

So we were in Cincy this past weekend - for less than 24 hours. I really enjoy traveling ... but I HATE having to do it in such a whirlwind. We really have too much on our plates ...

Tyler and I both had a good time, but thanks to the super shortness of the visit, most of our social time with friends had to be super late into the evening. I'm pretty sure that Tyler was out till 1 am or so on Sunday morning. Crazy. Shout out to the Aldridges. Thanks for letting us crash at your house. (On a side note here ... I hate descending on a house and using it just to sleep. Am I the only person who feels guilty for that, or does anyone else out there share my feelings?) Sunday morning we stayed long enough to go to Kara's dedication at church. It was nice. I like their church - it would have been nice to hear a sermon ... but it was also Graduates' Sunday. So the youth leader lady took over the microphone for what was supposed to be a short "Thanks for being you ... Good luck in the future ... etc ...", so 45 minutes later she stopped talking. So there wasn't a sermon.

jOURney, on the other hand was fantastic Sunday night. I'm going to sound like I'm stealing from Ryan here, but I too really felt like we were all on the same page and something bigger than us was going on there ... it was cool! :)

So - upcoming weekends:
June 2 - August 11 ... somewhere for something at least one of the days ...
August 18 - ? ... are we done with the marathon weekends? ... wow ... that would be FANTASTIC!!!!!! (On the downside - I thought that we were half way through our marathon - and it appears that we're not ... oh well ...

New Blog

Tyler and I have decided to record and publish for our entertainment and yours all of those thoughts and conversations that could cause us to be smited. We hope you enjoy reading ...

The Way, The Truth, and The Smite

Warning: It may not be for the faint of heart, the full of bladder, or those who can't laugh at themselves and their belief systems.

(There's also a link on the side of my blog)

Lack of Wisdom

Sometimes I just don't understand.

God, please help me to understand and to see your ways and your workings in our lives. Amen.

In the Heat of the Day

We have one. It's in the wall in the living room and does a lovely job cooling our entire home. But for some reason I'm stubborn. There's a part of me that feels like we shouldn't have to turn it on in May - especially since it's supposed to be back in the 70s Saturday AND weather.com says it'll stay in the 70s through next weekend. However, my stubbornness is affecting my work getting done around here ...
It's too hot right now to sew. There's a breeze in the living room, but not in the kitchen where I have to set up the sewing machine. I have a fan going in the bedroom and one in the living room, as well as the central fan - but it's still 88 degrees in here. And neither myself nor my wonderful husband are lacking in the "extra body padding" area - we're overweight ... it makes the heat that much hotter ...

Oh to turn on the air or leave it off? ... Thoughts?

***UPDATE***
At 9 pm last night it was still 87 degrees in our front room (where there are windows on two sides and the fan/ac. We decided that we'd turn it on just long enough to cool the house so that we'd sleep. It was nice. It was off again this morning and I had the windows all open. If only we had ceiling fans - then perhaps it would still be off ... but alas - it's back on. Oh well ... it'll be nice next week and we can have fresh air once again.

72/775

That's hours and miles ...




So last weekend was yet another in our marathon of spring/summer weekends. We started out Friday evening stopping in Ada for Kappa Phi's Degree of the Rose. Then we headed to Marion, IN to hang out with Dave and Abby Burden. Marion is about forty minutes or so south-west of Fort Wayne. Tyler had fraternity business with Dave, who took over Tyler's job in the fraternity (secretary) at the last Conclave. Abby and I had a really nice time visiting too. They've been working on remodeling their house and, while they feel like they still have so much to do, it looks great and their hard work is evident. We slept in Marion on Friday night.

Saturday afternoon we took off for New Philadelphia, OH, 5 hours from Marion. We stayed with Garry and Deidra Lute that night. I felt so bad that we got there so late ... but it was good to see them. We hadn't seen them since last August at their wedding. We stayed up and chatted for a while. Deidra gave us the grand tour of their new house - which they are also remodeling. She bought it sight unseen by Garry just a couple of weeks before their wedding. They've finished ripping out the lathe and plaster walls in the entry and have re-drywalled and are waiting to paint. They still have a lot of work to do - but their house will be beautiful when they finish. The old woodwork alone is gorgeous.

Sunday morning we went to church in Urichsville with Deidra and her family. It was really good to see Mom and Dad Dudgeon again, as well as her little sister Diana. We then took off and headed for Wintersville/Steubenville, OH - an hour further east than New Philly. My step-mom's mom died on Thursday night and we wanted to go out for the showing at the funeral home. I know it meant a lot to Dad, Syl, and my siblings to see us there. Dad was shocked ... but, like we said, there's nowhere that's too far to travel for family. It was good that we went. I just wish that we could have stayed for the funeral on Monday - but that wasn't practical, we needed to work on Monday. So we left the funeral home around 3 and headed towards Columbus. Why?, you ask. Because at that point in the weekend, we'd rather make the 3 hour drive to my mom's house than the 5 hour drive back to ours. And it was Mother's Day ... couldn't hurt to see as many of our moms as we could. So we had dinner in Columbus with mom and stayed there Sunday night.

Monday morning we went to mom's school and Tyler taught her fifth graders some cool things about math. We started that tradition while he was in grad school and we've just kept it going. Mom usually takes the math enrichment kids, so they just eat up everything that Tyler talks about. She had a bright group again this year ... I was impressed with the way they followed and asked intelligent questions. I also haven't missed a year of my life without getting to mom's room at least once a school-year. The visual on her kids just makes her stories so much better! We left around noon and headed straight to school to pick up Sophie. So, by the time we got home from our Monday evening church meeting, we'd been not home for 72 hours and put 775 miles on the car. While it was a good weekend - I certainly wouldn't recommend that much travel in three days time. :P

Chocolate Chips

Today is National Chocolate Chip Day! How exciting! Celebrate today with cookies ... or just eat them by the handful ...

What a yummy day!

A Mish Mash of Info ...

- 38. That's the total number of pounds I've lost in the last year. Woo Hoo! :) That's major progress towards my 100 pounds lost goal. And, I'm right on track. I figured that it would take me about 2 and a half years to really make the life changes necessary to keep up with this forever.

- JESUS! Oh so much to say ... So the video in the previous post is short, sweet, to the point, and HILARIOUS!!!!!! It was a total accidental find. And a laugh we totally needed. Tyler and I were reading some things online about this movement. Intrigued to find several holes in his "platform" ... we searched on YouTube. And found this ...

Wow ... holy cow dude ... people can really twist stuff huh? I won't post it here, but the piece that's done by the Today Show was informative too. And Tyler and I sat and watched in amazement. Slowly, we realized that there's a reason God isn't smiting US. He's too busy watching out for the real loonies out there ... So I'm really interested to hear what you may or may not have to say about the Growing in Grace movement/religion ...

- So we're 1 week into a 7 week crazy land. Yes, that statement was confusing ... allow me to clarify. Last weekend was the first of the out-of-town crazy booked weekends. Tyler had an Aflac state meeting in Dayton on Friday. His meeting went well. While he was busy meeting the new state coordinator, I spent the afternoon with Jenette and her two lovely children. Poor Ethan was still not 100%, but he's still a good kid. Little Kara (11 weeks old now :)), is soooooooooo adorable. She's such a sweet little baby! So Tyler's meeting only went 4 hours instead of 5, whew! I went back up to Dayton to pick him up and we returned to Jenette and Aaron's house. (As a side note here, they live in a subdivision. Not one of the newer ones where every home looks exactly the same, but a subdivision none-the-less. I did not get lost going in and out of their neighborhood different ways than the directions that Google gave me. I also didn't have trouble following the directions in the first place - except for not being able to find the street that Jenette forgot to mention was necessary to get to her house in the first place :P. Haha! Tyler gets lost in there every time. YES! I am better at not getting lost!) They ordered a pizza for dindin ... killer pizza ... Fox's. It was yummy. Having time to hang out was fun. Saturday, we went to a baby shower. It was way cool. Josh and Ann had their shower at a park and did a cook out. It was a family affair too. Everyone just kind of mingled and played with each other's kids, it was super nice. Tyler and I talked on the way home, and it was exactly the kind of shower we'd like to have someday. We were planning on coming home Saturday afternoon, but we were totally exhausted. So we stayed another night. Jenette and Aaron left to run some errands and left us with the kids. Tyler played with Ethan on his Star Wars game. I think they had fun ... Ethan sure seemed to. I sat with Kara while she slept. Then she woke up and the little stinker was starving but refused to take her bottle. Oh well ... the fight that she put up refusing the bottle just gave me more quiet time while she was eating. She's such a happy baby! Tyler was really sweet to take some time with her too. He's really good with kids. He'll be a good dad someday. Aaron made enchiladas for dinner and margaritas. They were killer good. We mostly just hung out. But truth be told, we needed that relaxed social time. We don't often get that. We left Sunday morning around 9. Which was great because it gave me time to crash before I left at 2:30 for a bridal shower in Ada. It was really good to see the girls that were there. Yay for weddings! Tyler and I are really looking forward to this one. One of many this summer ... Then last night I had a jewelry party to attend. Another fun one. I needed that social time too.

- Upcoming events: Trip to Marion this coming weekend. STE business. Then another jewelry meeting Monday, and a new group starting up at church. Next weekend my mom is coming up. We're going to take Gramma out for lunch for mother's day ... yeah ... late, but the only time we could fit in in. The weekend after that is Memorial day weekend and we have a family function. Then, the first two weekends in June we have weddings. I keep thinking that we already have plans for the third weekend in June, but I can't remember what ... oh well ...

- So this was way longer than I expected. I need to get moving again on laundry. Today is rug washing day. I also need to find some lunch ... and I have to pick up Sophie at 3 today. Later ...

JESUS!

3:30 Brain

Yeah ... I've been bad ... sorry about that. Truth be told, I've been going through some stuff and just haven't felt like posting about it ... However, my lack of motivation leaves my loyal reader (Is there more than one of you? :P) with nothing to read. Bummer for you ...

So it's 3:30 in the morning and I'm up. This is the second night in a row for this awful sleep pattern. Last night I was up sick at this time ... tonight ... well - let's just say that not only am I up sick, I had quite the dream that I just couldn't shake.

So ... what's going on? ... Well ... We're working on getting the office in order for what Tyler thinks will work best for him and Aflac. It's an absolute mess right now ... but it will get there. What is done and where it will be is nice. And we've both been really good about just getting rid of stuff we don't need and/or use. I've been on a real kick of "get rid of what we don't need/use ... get it out of our house" recently ... I must say that I know this isn't completely unfounded ... I just don't know the full extent of what's causing it yet.

DOC called. My second pair of glasses is in. I can't go down there to get them this week. I can't go this weekend. I can't go next week. I can't go next weekend. You know what? ... I pretty much can't get away from Findlay (except for all of the stuff that's already booked) for quite a while. So mom's going to pick them up and mail them to me. I have been blessed ... truly. Mom is an absolutely incredible woman. She's more than I could have ever wished for or imagined a mom should/could be. Don't get me wrong ... she's not on a pedestal or anything ... we've had our rough times. But we're where we are now in our relationship because of the way she's been willing to redefine it over time. We most certainly don't look like what I think most mother/daughter teams look like. And I think that we're closer than most ... which can be a problem at times (for everyone ... sorry sweetie ... I know). Mom and I are more friends than parent and child. But I know I can still call and talk to my mommy if I need/want to. I wouldn't trade that for the world.

We're going to be crazy busy for a while. We have a baby shower and a bridal shower this weekend. I'm skipping small group on Thursday to have dinner with my Big Sis (who hasn't been in state since our wedding almost 3 years ago). Usually I wouldn't skip ... but it's been 3 years since I've had a chance to spend time with her. And she graduated a year before I did ... so it's really been almost 4 years since we've had good quality time together. Next week I have a meeting every night. We're headed to another STE meeting next weekend. Then we start in on the wedding marathon of the summer. I know I'm looking forward to it. It's just harder when we have to go go go ...

I do have some more to say ... but I'm tired. I've finally cooled down and finished my water. Hopefully I've seen enough HGTV to clear my head tonight. Sorry about the long time between and then the length of the post. I'll try to be better ...

Changes

So Mom came up last week. She was here Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I must admit that the visit was nice. We all went to a Sedar meal on Thursday night. I miss regularly attending. It was nice. Friday, Mom wanted to buy some new pants for school. So we hauled up to Toledo to a mall. It was nice to spend the day with Mom and Tyler. She found some great pants and a couple of skirts to wear to school. She's still on the hunt for shoes though. I found a really flattering sun dress. The zipper was broken though. So we got it for a big discount. I have already changed the zipper out for a new one ... I just need to sew the hook and eye back on the top. I was hoping to wear it this coming weekend ... but we'll see. Maybe Friday night. Tyler got a couple of dress shirts and a new tie. All three of us found new spring jackets ... like nicer than a windbreaker ones. I really dig mine.

Thursday wasn't a fabulous day for me. My new job laid me off. Grr. Just until business picks up though. I think that the boss thinks that's going to be a lot sooner than I think it is. Oh well. I am still nannying after school. I do really enjoy that.

Tyler had a couple of really great productive meetings on Thursday. Things are really starting to move for him. That's so encouraging to see.

This coming weekend is Conclave. We went down to Ada last night for Brotherhood so that Tyler could answer any questions or concerns they might have. I was surprised that they had almost 2 hours worth of business that involved us being there ... and they kept going after we left. It was really good that we went though. I know Tyler feels that way. I know that it was good that he was there to field some of the questions and concerns that the brothers had.

So we're in Indy this weekend. We still don't know what time we'll get there. I know we were both hoping for sooner rather than later ... but it looks like he might have to go to some Aflac training thing in Delphos in the afternoon. We're both really looking forward to the weekend. We're having dinner with JT on Friday night. He and Tyler were in the same pledge class. He's the alumni delegate for E. It will be good. I'm sure there'll be plenty more changes for me to share after Conclave ...

In the meantime ... I have a TON of work to do and errands to run before Friday morning.

Heels and Hopes ... Both High

So I wear heels to work now. That's pretty different than the tennis shoes I wore to school to work, to clean to work, and to nanny to work. My feet hurt today. They don't want me to put them back in heels ... but yet ... heels I must.
Yep. You read that right. I have a professional job. I'm back to working bridals. There's a really well established business in Tiffin that just expanded to Findlay. They took over the old I DO! building out by Olive garden. The owner is super nice. I really enjoy working with her and for her. She did a wonderful job remodeling the space too. It looks like how I think a bridal shop should look too. There's only one downside that I've spotted ... For now, until she can justify hiring more people, it's just going to be the two of us working. She doesn't want to be left alone in the evenings. So for a while ... I'll be late to our evening activities. Bummer ... but Tyler and I talked about it. I don't want to give up the shot at a full-time job because I have no short-term flexibility with my schedule. I am so tired of having to split myself 2, 3, even 4 or 5 ways just to make not enough money to even make a dent in helping with the bills. Yesterday, I made more money than I do in a full week of nannying. I just don't want to loose that earning potential - especially while Tyler's still getting his feet under him.
So ... the long and short of it ... I'm happy about the job. I'm not thrilled about the hours - but I know that they're just short-term. So this is a good thing. Okay ... I have to leave for work in about 2 hours. I should get busy around here. I find that I'm just not motivated to do housework when I don't get home till 8:30. Imagine that. :P

Second Chances ...

Okay ... so I have an interview tonight at 5. I'll post more about it afterwards ... I'm still kinda superstitious about sharing too soon. Let's just say that this could be a very good thing.

In the meantime I'm washing windows and doors, cleaning the bathroom, and cleaning up my mess in the kitchen from sewing world.

Now ... what to wear ... hmm ...

Switchfoot and Switch Plates

I find myself in a bit of a reflective mood today. And here is what I find myself reflecting upon (it's by Switchfoot) ...

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken
Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you've got now
Yeah, and today is all you'll ever have
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes

This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

Yesterday is a kid in the corner
Yesterday is dead and over

This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes

This is your life are you who you want to be
This is your life are you who you want to be, yeah

This is your life, are you who you want to be, who you want to be yeah
This is your life, are you who you want to be (who you want to be)
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

And you had everything to lose

For those who aren't Switchfoot fans it's called This is Your Life. I loved this song. Mandy played it at JZ's funeral. I couldn't listen to it for a while. I can again ... and that makes me happy ... but that is beside the point and neither here nor there. The real reason I've been thinking about it lies here: Am I living like I want to live? For the most part - yes. I am happily married. I love taking care of my husband and our home. I enjoy one of my jobs ... I tolerate the other one :P. Tyler and I have wonderful friends. We enjoy our jOURney church. We are blessed. And yet there's a part of me wondering what it is that's not quite right. I find quite the call here to really live like today is it. I wonder how our lives and world would change if everyone honored today for what it is truly worth. Hmm ...

(And now, because I'm not so sure that deep reflection is working for me today ...)

On to the switch plates part of the title. It's spring. That means spring cleaning. I LOVE this time of year. I LOVE that I have the luxury of spending a large chunk of time cleaning our home and making it sparkle. Don't get me wrong. I do clean on a regular (read "weekly") basis. There's just something different about this time of year. The kitchen is gorgeous. I am so thrilled to have the inside of our appliances clean. (Yeah ... I know ... it's the simple - well dorky - things that please me.) The cupboards are clean ... inside and out. The bathroom is just as clean. Today's mission is: you guessed it - switch plates. No one ever thinks to clean where our dirty little fingers leave marks. Also on the list today - the insides of our washer and dryer need washed out, the furniture needs vacuumed, and the shower needs scrubbed down again (Tyler ran mop water for the floors in the bathtub after I cleaned it the first time ... oh well ... today's cleaning should be easier.), and I'm thinking that will probably be it in the time I have for today. Tomorrow I'll have more time.

And on a bit of a side note here: I don't understand why people freak out at the thought of sending your child to a friend's house when that friend has the chicken pox. That's what mom did to me ... I survived. Seriously - better to expose your child and get it out of the way when he's between like 4 and 9 than have him in college and ridiculously sick. Seriously people.

Okay ... on to switch plates ... :P