You Know You Came From a Small Town When...

...you land at the "international" airport and recognize 8 kids from your graduating high school class...when you run into your boyfriend from sophomore year at the mall...AND you can't go anywhere without recognizing someone!
I adore my anonymity in Colorado...those people have no history with me and that's the way I like it. They know me as an adult only and I don't have any weird vibes from them. It's not like I have bad memories from this place or dislike any of these people, they're great, but I just hate all the interaction that happens with it. I want to hang out with a small handful of people and that's it.

Does anyone else feel this way when they go to their hometown?!

Handy Mommy

I'm feeling very cool right now.

I spent 3 hours yesterday disassembling our garbage disposal. I accidently mangled my tea ball in it the day before and the chain got wedged in the small crack where all the waste goes. Two hours of my time was spent using a fondue fork as a...uh...er...stabbing tool...trying to move the stupid chain up or down and free.
I'm not sure how many colorful words were muttered by me, but I'm sure I could rival any plumber or sailor. The hardest part was actually getting the stinking device hooked back in. Thank God for a mop bucket and multiple cutting boards (great wedges they are).

In lesser news, I decalcifyed the shower head as well, but I feel much cooler about the garbage disposal.

Have you ever done manly house chores? Did you enjoy it as much as I did?

Bah-Humbug?

I'm a very low-stress person...very low stress. This means I have a really hard time when things get hectic. Enter the holidays! No matter how nice everyone is during the holidays, I just get completely wiped out by the busyness of it all. This year has been much the same.
We had my daughter's birthday SLEEPOVER (yes, I am crazy) last night with four giggly girls, they all had much fun (Twister, cupcake decoration, pillow fight), but I'm lasting on about as much sleep as a momma with a newborn.
The economic turmoil hasn't affected us (yet) and so our Christmas is much the same as it is every year, except for two positive developments:

1. I normally suck at gift-giving...I lack creativity and fall back on gift cards a lot. This year I got my hubby lots of little things (think nuts, root beer, a tarp) that he is going to love.

2. Jason grew up with a dad who had a very Godly outlook on money and Christmas was a time of wonder and loving abundance for my hubby growing up. So, we were able to lavish our kids this year and I can't wait for them to feel it!

Our kids really didn't ask for much this year and they were able to buy gifts for less fortunate kids, which I think is great for them to experience. All in all, I think we feel very blessed to be us this year and are glad to spread that to those around us.

This post was written for the Blog Blast over at the Parent Bloggers Network http://blog.parentbloggers.com which is sponsored this week by FFDA, Families For Depressed Awareness, which helps families cope with stress (so needed for many right now).

Merry Christmas!

Around & Around I'll Go No More

Can I just say, I'm a little happy about this recession. I have high hopes that it will cause us to reorder our priorities and look at what matters. I know that living like we have for so long has kept us from being very busy because we just don't have the means.

Our kids are on the cusp of both being in "real" school (2nd & kindergarten next year) and I've seen how busy that can make a family if both kids get super involved in a large amount of activities. I've made it a point, so far in their lives, to make sure they understand the value of playing with friends after school. I'm planning on continuing to make sure that they make enough time for each other and relaxing with friends after the busy school day.

I'm also a low stress person and keep my schedule fairly free. The last couple of weeks have been so nutty though that I've barely had time to breath (or blog for that matter). With both of the kids in school next year, I've considered taking on a job, but I'd have to pray about it ALOT before I take that step. I'll keep those things that matter to Him and consider everything else carefully.

How about you? Are you too busy? Just right?

This post was written for The Parent Bloggers Network http://blog.parentbloggers.com/ . This week, they've teamed up with BigTent (an online group organizer) this week to ask moms how they're going to make their "circus" easier in 2009. There is a great prize involved this week! Check out the contest here: http://blog.parentbloggers.com/2008/12/12/your-life-is-a-circus-join-our-final-2008-blog-blast/

Nothing Like A Bum Fight

The hubby's currently away...not in some foreign land, but a wedding, on the east coast...which sort've counts as a foreign land to this Montana girl.
K, so all the big attractions around Denver have free days, one such entity being the Denver Art Museum. The first Saturday of EVERY month is a free day...for Colorado residents. So, I ventured down there with my kids, my pals (Crazy Uncle Connor & his wife Michelle) and his grandniece Orianna (Oreo). I was a little nervous about how they would take it all. It's all pretty comtemporary and some of it is pretty graphic. I shouldn't have worried though, my daughter loved it! She wants to be an artist, so she was fascinated. I could tell Caedmon thought it was mostly weird (some definately was) and would've been happier at a car museum. They lasted three hours before we adults gave up and decided to walk them to a McDonald's.

We're walking through a park in the heart of Denver and lo and behold we come upon a bum fight. Apparently a couple of bums had approached the stuff of some other bums. Those bums had to defend their shtuff. How do you do that? Beat the other bums away with a broken broom handle. Then get a couple more involved and start punching each other in the head.
I never know what to do when I come upon something like that...do you call the cops? Intervene? Pretend like nothing's going on? Connor considered intervening, but they had driven off the other bums by the time we got parallel to it.

As we crossed the street, I looked down at Caedmon and said, "Let that be a lesson to you son, never get in a bum fight."

A Sign Your Kid Is (Too?) Comfortable at the Neighbor's House

We finally were blessed with snow this week and the kids were psyched. On Sunday they spent 3 hours sledding down the neighbor's hill.
I called my neighbor and told her how excited I was that they were having so much fun out there. She laughed and said, "Well, Caedmon actually came in a half hour ago. I was folding laundry in my room. He came in, said hi, climbed under the blankets on my bed and said, "Hey Steph, could you hand me the remote please?" So, I said sure and now my son is in here snuggling with him".
Wow, talk about owning your space! I'm so incredibly blessed that we've built a relationship like this with our neighbors and their kids. I adore Steph and her kids! It's exactly what I've been desiring in a neighborhood because it's what I had growing up.
Are your kids comfortable with the 'hood?

Winner of Gift Card Draw!

The winner of the GC I was offering was Claire!! Woo hoo, go claire. Unfortunately, I didn't win a Zune. Oh well.

188,000 is All You Have In You?

I love our mid-90s, high mileage cars...until they stop working. Sure enough, our gorgeous green LeSabre started smoking on the hubby's way home from work. Can I just say, getting Roadside Assistance through our phone service was a stroke of genius! We've used the service three times this year.

Oh, and I had to go meet them in the first snowstorm of the season! Very pretty, but untimely. We're not exactly sure what's wrong with the car, but I assume the antifreeze pouring out of the bottom of the car is not a good sign.

In other news, normally I go out on Black Friday and shop, but we are a little strapped and the hubby had to work. I've had a bad week of feeling whiney about finances...could be because rent is due at the end of next week. Ironically, I know He'll provide, but I just allow my emotions to run amok. Darn you emotions!

Vote for Me (and Giveaway)

The Present Professor had a contest about the worst gift received and I could use your votes for my story!
As extra incentive, I'm giving away a $5 GC to CVS and $5 GC to Starbucks to one lucky voter. Head over here ( http://presentprofessor.com/2008/11/win-a-zune/ ) and vote for my story (The Cheese Wheel That Came Too Late). Then come back here and leave a comment that you voted. Contest ends Nov. 30th, so I'll draw a name on Dec 1st. (I can only ship to Canada & the US)
Happy voting!

Give Me Your Liver Sandwich, Prune Tajine, Hammam!

Well, we're back home...hard to believe that we left only a week ago on our whirlwind trip.

I realized that in my last post about Morocco, I failed to mention the lovely country Moroccans that we sat next to on our 4 hour train ride. These studly folks (after what I'm sure was a long day) decided that taking off their shoes and propping said funky feet on the seats was the right way to end their day. Then they decided to talk to each other loudly and close the window and doors (Allah forbid they get cold). The smell in our little cab was...ripe to say the least.

One of my favorite parts of traveling is the new foods I get to try, by the second day I was itching to attempt something unusual. We hit the street market (medina) and walked around looking at jalabas and the donkey's that lumbered past with their wares. Jalabas are the native dress and (I kid you not) they are exactly like every Jedi robe you've ever seen. I couldn't help but look for light sabers or KKK members. We finally sat down for a meal in a sandwich shop. They all ordered beef kabob sandwiches (boring!) and I resolutely ordered the liver sandwich. I've never had liver and I thought the safest place for my first try of organ meat would be an unsanitary shop in Morocco. Our friends, and my hubby, were completely grossed out. I was actually disappointed when I bit into my sandwich. It was delicious...and didn't taste weird at all. They put green olives and cooked onions in it with some horseradishy mustard. It was good.

That night, our friend Mark cooked the traditional Moroccan meal of a tajine...it's what passes for their casserole/stew dish. You toss whatever you have on hand in a pot and simmer for a couple of hours. Mark made a beef prune tajine. I admit, the thought of prunes in my meal sounds, erg, yucky, but when we sat down to eat it I dug in. It was delicious! The beef and prunes sat in a mild tomato based sauce with toasted almonds over the top. We pick up the meal in yummy fresh bread.

On the last day of our trip, Amy and I went to her neighborhood hammam. For those who don't know what that is...is the bath house. Middle eastern cultures love being clean, and since hot water (and home plumbing) hasn't been common, then they go once a week (or month) to the hammam to get clean. We walk into a big tiled room and promptly stripped down to our undies. We walked deeper through three tiled rooms to a room filled with steam. You fill three buckets w/ hot, cold & warm water, sit on a bath mat, and start scrubbing the dead skin off. They say there that you aren't clean until the worms of skin come off your body. We didn't scrub that hard. Also, it's normal there to scrub the skin off your friends body. Erm, we enjoy each other at all but we weren't about to scrub each other down. It was a lot of fun sitting there, chatting it up, having everyone stare at the foreigners. All in all, a great end to the trip.

The kids did an amazing job with the grandparents...why wouldn't they when they get to eat junk food, play video games and skip school?! I'm incredibly blessed with having the parents that we do; who are willing to take our kids at the last minute.

The Cheese Wheel That Came Too Late

For the most part, my Christmas presents have been wonderful things and as I've gotten older I've realized that there's more to it than the gift received. But there were two gift snafu's that stick out to this day. There was the infamous 4th grade Christmas when I got nothing but CLOTHES. I remember crying that day.

My favorite awful gift that we like to recall in my family is the cheese gift pack. As a kid, whenever I went out with my mom around the holidays I would see these brightly colored, orderly, delicious-looking packages that held summer sausage, a multitude of cheese, mustard and crackers. I would ooh and ahh and tell my mom that I really would love one of them. Then a year passed and I forgot about the glorious cheese.
On Christmas morning my grandparents were there and they handed me a large square box. I was excited because it felt too heavy to be clothes and I was hoping for Legos or books. I ripped of the paper...
there was the cheese gift pack in all it's late (and now unwanted) glory.
"Oh...thank you?" I said to my grandparents as I screwed up my face.
They all laughed as they realized that the cheese wheel I pleaded for last year was an awful gift.

I wrote this post for a great contest going on over at The Present Professor http://presentprofessor.com/2008/11/win-a-zune/ . Happy gifting!

Hey, Your Cow's in that Roundabout

Here we are in nutty, exotic, quasi-sunny Fes, Morocco! After roughly 30 hours of travel we made it here. Here's the flights:

Denver-Memphis

Memphis-Nashville (drop off kids)

Nashville-Atlanta

Atlanta-Madrid

Madrid-Casablanca

And THEN, you hop on a train for fours hours to get to Fes...easy, right.

It's really good to be here and see our friends, to love on them and (hopefully) bring a little familiar love and encouragement to them. Being here makes me wish I were in Turkey...it's been 2 years since I've gone there.

Wondering about the title. While on the train I kept watching the scenery go by and I noticed that people graze their sheep and cows wherever there's something to graze. This includes the middle of a busy roundabout. I also noticed what appeared to be rows of cactus that they were growing for some unknown purpose. We saw a shoving match while waiting for the train to Fes and drank a can of lychee juice. In my opinion, that's the hardest part of travel. When you're going quickly from place to place, it's hard to pick up anything close to a meal. Thank God for granola bars and gum!

We leave Thursday, so I'll post again if anything interesting occurs.

Stay Tuned...

...as I will be next blogging from the foreign and fun shores of Fes, Morrocco!!

Ta Da, Last Minute Man!

As if our week's haven't been crazy enough, it looks like He might be sending us to Morocco next week...as in leaving this Saturday.

Did I mention the hubby is currently out hunting?

So, yeah, kinda crazy.

I was in the bathroom yesterday and I asked/whined God why He was asking us to go to Morocco. Why couldn't He send someone else?

Then He said, "You doink, who else can fly at the last minute like you all can?!"

Oh yeah.

Also, I was reading James 2:15-17 which says, " If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself."

Why wouldn't He send us and how awful of me to not want to give our missionaries some loving!

I should say we're not 100% sure we're supposed to go, so stay tuned!

Non-Scrapbooking Scrapbooking Weekend

Yes, my friends, it's that glorious time of year when I head into the mountains and hang in a scrapbooking cabin with 10 loverly ladies. Ironically enough, I don't scrapbook and I've spent the last 3 years of this weekend to do NOTHING. And by nothing I meaning bathing, reading, watching movies, contesting and whatever other chicanery requires me to relax.

I love this weekend too because the majority of these ladies are people who I don't know well, and I love seeing into who they are more. It causes me to see outside of my usual people bubble and appreciate the broader spectrum of ladies.

If you've read my previous posts you know this is very timely for me...I needed to destress. Oh yeah, NO ELK meat! Argh!

The Answer

God came through today!! I got a call early in the day that someone wanted to meet with me. When I met with this person she told me that she and her hubby and been lifting us up and had felt that they were to give us money for rent. It was exactly what we needed! It covered the day late fee and everything!



Also, another praise, what that this scenario gave my mom and I the opportunity to connect and really talk through some things. I now know that I can call her to pray over situations like this.



Thank you to all of you who prayed for peace for me...I felt much stronger faith-wise this week than I've felt in a long time.

When Is It a Need?

Here it is, the end of D-day for rent...and we don't have it.
Does that mean He doesn't care? No
Now my question is: When is it necessary for rent to be paid? Is He going to wait until we get eviction notice to provide it?
What about the electric bill? When do those need to be paid?
Is eviction something that He'll allow us to go through?
These are something of the questions I'm pondering tonight...I'm still at peace (miraculously) with our current situation...I'd love to have an answer though.

We Love to Move it, Move it

The Mom Salon and Mcdonald's are trying to find out what families would do with one minute to move it!
It's hard to think of doing this for just one minute, but we like to crank up the music (Imagination Movers, Newsboys, Night At the Roxbury) and groove ourselves silly in our living room. I love dancing with them because they think every move they do is cool and don't know enough yet to think I'm a dork (wonder how long that will last).
Now, if we could only talk the hubby into showing us his cool moves.

Livin On the Edge

Just a quick update on my prayer request from a couple of days ago:

Highs: I was given an anonymous gift of $100 on Sunday! praise God!
My son's tuition is covered for this month!

That leaves us with much still needed to cover rent tomorrow, but I had an amazing day of peace and sweet time with God. We've made Tuesdays unofficial No Electronics Day and I'm a lot calmer and God focused when I'm not flipping on all the distractions (yet here I am on the computer after the kids are asleep). Cheater.

Stay tuned to see how He provides!

How Many Giveaway Wins?

So here are the stats for me from the Bloggy Giveaways:

1,268 giveaways entered
5 wins

That means that my odds of winning are 1 in every 254 contests...not the odds I was hoping for.

BUT let's take the number of wins that I've had in the last year.

221 wins / 12 months = 18 wins per month

Not too shabby, but I do shudder to think how much time I've spent sitting at this computer!

How about you, what's your average? How many Bloggy wins did you have??

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Update: I now have 6 wins so the new average is 1 win in every 211 contests entered

Uh

Another exciting week following the road He's taking us on.
Hubby will be on leave from the airport job from Oct 20th-Nov. 22. This job is our dependable income.
He's still working as the mission's guy at our church, and that income is dependant on God moving people's hearts to give to us.
Rent is due on the 5th...tuition for preschool is due the 5th.
I fully expected God to cover all these things yesterday when we got our church pay...we got $70.
Neither of these bills are $70...needless to say I'm looking at Him saying, "Oookay."
This would all be a little less stressful if my hubby wasn't leaving today to go hunting. We really need him to kill an elk so that we can have meat for the next year.

Why do I bring all this up? Two reasons:
-I'm asking for your prayers for providence and peace in my heart.
I know when He's steering the ship it's headed to the best place for us, BUT I really don't want to move out of our house and be homeless again.
-I want you all to know of our scenario so that you can rejoice with me when He does show us how this dilemma will resolve.

How's your week? Anyone else wondering how they're going to pay their rent/mortgage?

Does This Really Warrant Applause?

Must...stop....entering!!!
In case you're out of the loop and don't know that the annual Bloggy Giveaway carnival is going on right now...current giveaway count is at 1,395!!!
I'm currently entering giveaway # 1,150...yes, I am crazy, but I figure I'm crazy for science!
I'm trying to figure out the percentage of times I win a contest, so this is always a fun way to average that out.
Granted, I haven't entered all 1,150 contests (but I've kept count and I'm at 953), but once it's all said and done I'll give you the results of my experiement.

Pre-Halloween Halloween???

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like Halloween has become a week-long event around here.
Today (a full week ahead of the day) we went to a "Harvest" costume Carnival at the christian college. Also, Old Navy was giving kids free shirts if they came in with their costumes on.
Tuesday we go to the local high school for dress-up trick or treating.
And the Big Day...they go to school in their costumes, then go to the downtown shops for candy, then they can go to the mall...ALL before it gets late enough for them to hit the neighbor houses!
If you're keeping track that's SIX events all before the actual night! Of course, it's a blessing this week since the hubby's in Nicaragua. He'll be home tomorrow, but it's been 10 days since we've seen him.

Also, I'm a hunting season single parent, so I don't see much of the hubby until Thanksgiving (elk are very elusive beasties).

Have you hit any Halloween fun yet?

Will the Real Underpants Please Stand Up?

My kids have been digging the Captain Underpants series lately...you really can't go wrong with that many poop jokes and misspelled words.

As a result of said obsession, I have 2 Capt. Underpants and 2 Super Diaper Baby's running around our house currently. Do I feel safe from wedgies, oh yes, definately.

The Sound of Silence

I did something unusual today...I sat and did nothing for 15 minutes.
I'm sure you're thinking, "That's nothing special!", but if I sit in my house I'm usually occupying my hands, mind or both while I'm doing it. I've fallen into this trap of popping in the earphones and listening to my Ipod if I'm doing something or reading or watching TV while doing something.

But I really rarely sit and let my mind not be cluttered.

What a shame it is really, with our lives being much easier than any time before us...we say we're busy because we fill it with stuff!

I'm resolving to do this "nothing" more...maybe I'll hear Him the way I used to.

Note To Self

Dear Whiney Weak Part,

What the heck is wrong with you girl?! Are you seriously going to let our emotions toss us around like that?
I mean, c'mon, has He ever failed us?
Ever????
In the last 26 years has He ever dropped the ball??
Then why the internal ball of nerves with you trying to drive the ship?
Seriously girl, do we need to have another talk?
Remember all the cool times? Let's just talk about the last week of answers since Jason has been on his leave from the airport:
-Jason needed $20 to contribute to the hunting trip...he got a $20 tip at work!
-You guys actually got some money in at the church and got paid this week!
-Someone gave you $45 that you can live on while Jason's gone.
-You have supportive friends that you're meeting with this week so that you won't lose it you silly doof!
-The friends who run the food bank called you and had staple groceries that you could have to stock your pantry.
Need I remind you of all the ways in the past that He's covered our butts?
So, let me get this straight: You're REALLY whining because it doesn't look exactly like how you would run it? OH, poor sad little finite person! You wanted to eat out and rent movies and take the kids to fun places while Jason was gone, apparently that's not part of the Plan.
Anyhoo, Whiney, read Matthew 6:25-34 for the bazillionth time, and buck up! He loves you and I've got your back.

Love you!
The Holy Spirit in You

Beans! Mwa Ha Ha Ha?

Beans and rice smell amazing...for about 3 hours...then the smell starts to really irritate you. Like a day old diaper in the trash can.
Why did my kitchen smell like B & R since 9am you ask? I'm making B & R for about 30 people tonight at church for a Missions Forum. We're being diabolical with it...each attendee will get one scoop of B&R, 2 fried corn tortillas, and water. That's it! Mwa ha ha! The reason for the skimpy eats is to help them understand that not everyone get's to eat as much as they want...also, our missionary friend's in Nicaragua basically eat B&R twice a day nearly every day.
You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!

Barking Mad photo #2

There's a great blog, Barking Mad, (http://abritandabit.typepad.com/), that's holding a photo contest for the prize of an awesome camera. This is a pic of my oldest, dirtiest shoes (they're 12 years old & still kicking!) You can check out her post here and see the other fun photos here: http://abritandabit.typepad.com/spotted_dick_and_other_mu/2008/09/canon-camera-gi.html

Barking Mad photo #1

There's a great blog, Barking Mad, (http://abritandabit.typepad.com/), that's holding a photo contest for the prize of an awesome camera. This is the underside of my kiddos bed. You can check out her post here and see the other fun photos here: http://abritandabit.typepad.com/spotted_dick_and_other_mu/2008/09/canon-camera-gi.html

Contest of the Day

If you're looking for unique gift ideas then look no further than Kir Devries shop! They have a little bit of everything over there. I'm a fan of Earthlust bottles and their prices are very reasonable (http://www.shopkirdevries.com/earthlust-13oz-stainless-steel-water-bottle--green-leav13.html).
They're also have a great contest right now to plug their site (though I think it plugs itself), check that post out here: http://www.kirdevries.com/2008/09/you-win-with-ou.html

Has It Affected You Yet?

I don't normally plug NPR, but "This American Life" has done 2 phenomenal shows explaining the reasons for the mortgage collapse AND the economic collapse.

I knew there had to be a good reason why most people in the government thought this bailout was a good idea...after listening to these shows, I understand better why. Here's also an interesting sidenote: Paulson is an expert on the Great Depression. He's done extensive studying on it and I gotta say, that makes me feel better.

Now, if it all falls apart, I have to say, it excites me. Here's why: Our generations have gotten more and more greedy and self-centered as time has progressed. If we enter a time where our almighty money has failed us and we have to band together more as communities, I see that as a good thing.

We believers (and people in general) forget so easily that true character and depth are built through adversity. Don't you think that if believers can thrive in their growth in Africa that we can do so here?! This would also shoot the prosperity gospel in the butt...granted, some "Christians" may fall away, but I think this could make the church as a whole stronger.

Has this affected my household yet? I would say no, but it may be coming. Living on church support could make things really tight if people stop giving as much to God. I'd like to think it would have the opposite effect. We're on some government program and I need to reapply for others and I know the wait time will be longer and I can't wait to see if these government programs continue to function. We're at such a low end of the income bracket that I'm not sure how we could have much less.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

Has it affected your home yet?

Contest of the Day

Those awesome chicks over at 5 Minutes for Mom http://www.5minutesformom.com/4418/costume-giveaway/ are giving away a plethora of cute Halloween costumes right now.

I'd love to win the Junior Cowgirl Dress Up Outfit in size 8 or Junior Doctor Uniform in size 8.

Hurry and check it out...it ends Wednesday!

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Green Your Decor is teaming with Starfrit and giving away one of their awesome frying pans. Check it out here: http://www.greenyourdecor.com/2008/10/01/green-cooking-review-giveaway-starfrit-eco-chef-frying-pan/

Sing a Song of Pirates and Pippy!

Singing has been a love of mine for a long time...something I hope to pass on to my kids. There are certain songs that we really enjoy singing.

The Backyardigans always have LOTS of catchy tunes on them. We took one that said "What do you do with a scurvy (said very growly) pirate..." and changed it to "What do you do with a scurvy mommy, make her walk the plank". Then I sing it right back at them and tell them they're going to walk the plank. This silly motivation is often enough to get them cleaning their room.

My son is also stuck on the theme song from the movie, "The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking". He sings it in a very loopy, goofy tone AND sings it ALL the way to his sister's school in the morning. Needless to say, I turn NPR up...a lot.

Both kids have caught onto the fact that I need some fun music to clean house quickly...we'll often blast some Imagination Movers if they're helping me dust.

A world without tuneage would be a blase world indeed!

This post was written as part of the Parent Bloggers Network's weekly Blog Blast! Check it out here: http://blog.parentbloggers.com/ . This week they're teaming up with Bush's Beans as host of this contest. Check out Bush's Beans here: http://www.beanchant.com

The Sweetest Thing

K, so Mondays are my "play guitar and sing at the very tip-top of my lungs" time while both kids are in school. As a result I just about threw a chair at my hubby's friend when he came in the door. I was seeing red as I dropped my son off, KNOWING they'd be chatting away in my living room when I got home (detect any selfish whining in there? I do.)

Then it hit me, I'll just climb into the hills behind our house and play there. So, I grabbed my Ipod, guitar, water and apple and hiked 20 minutes into the hills. I found a nice scrub tree and sang away for an hour. Oh, little did I know how more blessed that time would be in His creation! His presence sat and enjoyed the time with me.

Then, on the hike down, I listened to an amazing sermon by John Piper from Sept. 3 entitled, "How Satan Saves the Soul"...wow, it was like eating a sermon hoagie it was so meaty!

All this to say, why don't you slow down and spend some time with Him? What keeps you from it?

Byzantine Blues

I've had my moments of being irritated over the last three months with our guest. The Turk wasn't noisy or intrusive, but with our quarters being so tight there was bound to be some stress.
The last couple of weeks I've been counting down for tomorrow...dreaming of moving my hubby's piles of stuff back into his office where it won't drive me as crazy.
What I wasn't expecting was to feel sad...sad as if my child is leaving the house and going off into the scary world. He's 24 and no child, but in a spiritual sense we have been his parents and he is our baby. He's going back to a country where religion isn't encouraged and where his family would freak if he brought up Christianity.
I worry that we haven't given him enough love, enough insight, enough of anything to stay encouraged until he can come back to the states and explore God like he wants to. But hey, really it's all out of my control anyway...God speed Bestami.

It Only took a Month

This may be the first week where I get to spent my TWK (time w/o kids) exactly as I had purposed to. Here's my plan:

Mon-Meet w/ friends I barely see or rock out on my guitar
Wed-Study up for bible studies and workout at the Rec center for 2 hours.
Fri-Maybe window shop, deep clean house...this one is my anything goes time.

I just finished playing guitar and singing at the top (the very top!) of my lungs for 1 1/2 hours. I've known for the last 7 years that this way of worship is so integral to who I am. But, it's hard to rock out with your kids around...ya hate to look like the dorky parent! All that to say, my goal is to build up the old callouses, start playing fast again and being inspired to write music again. I've got this great 12 string guitar that I haven't approached (it's been in its case for 4 years) because I want to have some skills before I dare attempt it.

Also, I just gotta tell you, I'd like nothing better than to take drum lessons.

Pros & Cons Day

Pros-
Ate tasty lentil & sausage soup for lunch, ate tasty scone @ Starbucks while studying and guzzled down a quart of sweet, sweet coffee. Finished reading book about cadavers by Mary Roach. Got to exercise for 2 hours and burned an estimated 600 calories because the caffeine made me extra peppie!

Cons-Said soup & scone, while tasty, caused stomache discomfort and the real urge to upchuck. Coffee, while energizing, made my hands shaky and pupils get REALLY tiny.

Moral: Skip the scone and soup...maybe less coffee.

Money Doesn't Make Our World Go Round

Since the beginning of time there's been a drive to gain more than what we currently have. We, as Americans, know this all too well in our land of ample opportunity. The struggle we parents have to deal with is how to teach our youngin's what money should be.

Before we even can teach them though, I think we need to have a good handle on what we think money is.
Is it the most important aspect of our lives?
Is it a stressful means to an end?
Is it something we've been given to give away?
Whatever our personal philosophy of funds happens to be, that will be the monetary impression our kids will get.

We, in our unique journey, strive to use our funds to help those around us be who they are supposed to be. This means that we give a portion of our funds to mission work. Not only do we give monetarily, but we also are able to go and visit other countries. This has made the biggest impact on our 6 year old's view of money. Watching the street kids struggle to live on nothing in Nicaragua and the generosity of low income friends to give us a great meal in Turkey has shown her how blessed we are. On her own, our daughter has decided that she doesn't always need to buy more. We consistently reiterate in front of both of our kids that everything we own is not ours. We've been blessed with it for a time and it's ours to bless other's with.

I'm hoping that by setting this (mostly) consistent example of holding money as something that we are blessed with that our kids will keep a balanced view of it as they get older. We will see!

This was post was written for a contest on Parent Bloggers Network http://blog.parentbloggers.com/ in conjunction with Capital One http://www.capitalone.com/financialeducation/cbt/launcher.htm . They have a new program online ( Moneywi$e eLearning ) tool to help families learn to manage their finances.

Esta Es Un Gran Tarantula!!

Well, it was bound to happen. The big bad tropical bugs make their first appearance last night. Of course it would be in the room where the 4 kids sleep. The 8 ran out hysterical screaming that there was a tarantula in the room.
Sure enough, on the corner wall was a big bad creature straight out of "Arachnaphobia" (for the record, I've never been able to watch all of it). It wasn't the biggest bug I've ever seen, but it was the size of a hand. The gate guard was nice enough to come squish the heck out of it with his heavy boots. They're faster than I expected.

Other than the spider, yesterday was a pretty calm day for me...I laid around the house reading while rain flooded portions of the house. Reminded me of some days I had as a teenager at the lake.

Vote for Me!

I've got a mural up in a contest...vote for it if you like it:

http://www.mydigitalprints.ca/Contest/Sara.asp

A Nicaraguan Day

Hello all! I'm hailing you today from muggy Managua, Nicaragua. I got here last night with 3 checked bags (non of which had my stuff in them) that I flew down here for some friends. One of the perks of flying cheap is you get to be a long-distance sherpa!

Our friends are down here starting up a home for the street boys who are addicted to sniffing glue. Not the easiest group of kids to get cleaned up. For example, two of the boys who are still out on the street got into a fight today and one of them was stabbed. Another one looks like he's going back to jail because he didn't stay in the house like the judge told him to.

Right now three boys are willingly staying in the home and I marvel at the changes that have happened in the last 3 years. The hubby and I were here 3 summers ago and hung out with many of the same boys. At that point they had no hope past the glue under their noses. Now they have 3 square meals, a roof, the beginnings of some education and the love of some gringos. I know it's discouraging for my friends here to see how slowly things are progressing, but I'm still blown away by the addition of life back into their eyes. It's hard to see the big picture when you see the daily grind (kind of like being a mom).

Anyhoo, that's just a quick update from the low lands. Later skaters!

The Newton Equation

My son is a professed fruit hater...don't know why but at the age of 2 1/2 he refused to touch fruit anymore! So, I got around it by giving him healthy juices and letting him eat a Newton or two a day.
Yesterday there was a breakdown in the Newton monitoring. Somehow he ended up consuming 20 Newtons yesterday and 2 carrots. Sure enough at 3am he woke up screaming that his "tummy" was killing him and proceeded to whimper and fart for the next 40 minutes.

I'll take that over the spiders.

The Forgotten Frenulum

Do any of us ever give a thought to the frenulum? Why would we...for the most part it does what it supposed to do, unless you're my son. The frenulum is the skinny flap of skin that keeps your tongue anchored to the floor of your mouth, my son's has been attached at the very tip of his tongue since birth.
The docs keep assuring us that it would stretch out over time and not be so tight, but it never has. So, at four, he finally had it clipped.
Because of his age we got to trek down to the Children's Hospital here in Denver and have him put asleep for 10 minutes. Silly docs thought a 4 four old might not hold still for this, Psh! The whole thing went more smoothly than I could've thought. My son is shocked that he can actually stick his tongue past his teeth now...I can already tell a difference in the pronounciation of his "L's".
That's absorbed my weekend on top of us all developing our first "back to school" cold.

On a completely different note, the wolf spiders in our house are out of control this year. They're not quite the size of small dogs, but they're certainly shooting for it. Last night, as I was in the cusp of sleep I felt something skitter across my leg. Like lightening I brushed it off, pinned it under my other leg, flipped on the light and grabbed a tissue. I lifted up my leg and there was an injured wolf spider with the body (not including legs) of a half dollar! In my bed! This is the final straw, I HAVE to find some way of killing these buggers.

Though, I think I'll feel better about our spiders after I go down to Nicaragua in a week. Our friends have already seen a tarantula around their house.

The Things That Get Me

My 4 yr old son started his 3 afternoon/wk preschool program yesterday. It made me catch my breath a little when I watched him walk slowly into his classroom. (BTW, he loved it and couldn't stop raving about it)

I picked up my 6 yr old yesterday and as we walked to the car a boy who looked to be a year old said, "See ya Ruthie" and she coolly waved. She's so comfortable at that school and it makes me a little teary.

We watched "Rescue Dawn" last night, a Vietnam POW movie with Christian Bale. I couldn't stop thinking, "If someone could spend 5 years in conditions like that and come out sensible, then I know he can run a country."

Contest of the Day

DK Mommy (www.dkmommyspot.com) hosts many giveaways on a regular basis. She's holding a special round of giveaways this week that are all natural beauty products! Check out the info at this post: http://dkmommyspot.com/natural-beauty-week-is-coming/

Ineffectually Egged

If you're going to go to the trouble to TP and egg a house, the least you can do is do it well! I woke up to find 2 rolls of TP, one stick of margarine and 1 egg (1 egg?!) had been tossed into the tree and at the living room window. It's almost as if they lost the oomph for it. Makes me feel a little cheated too. If I have to clean it up, make it a BIG mess. Also, hello, no teenagers in this house...so, who did it?

I've been feeling a little fuzzy around the edges the last couple of days. You know, that phase where food seems like a waste of time cause it's so boring and all the things in your day blur together and seem boring too. Yeah, I've figured out that it seems to be part of my hormone cycle...pretty sucky part really. Even my cooking gets boring.

Sidenote: Dried egg smells like fish after it's been washed off the window.

Nature's Out To Get Me

Or, at least get my veggies!

I don't have a very big garden at all...most of them are in planters because I don't have the ground space. So, you'd think the pesky varmints would leave it alone. No such luck.

I went outside to pick lettuce yesterday (after 3 days of glorious rain) to find the tops eaten off ALL my tomato plants, a lettuce plant and my watermelon plants. Argh!
Then, just to taunt me, the deer left their tracks, their scat and the skunk sat outside our house last night.

Is this pay back for hunting season?

Leukemia

My hubby's little brother was diagnosed with leukemia 6 years ago, when he was 10. It was a very stressful time for my in-laws, but it got them motivated to get involved and find the best way to help him. They held a couple of bone marrow drives that yielded no matches. On the plus side, some other kids were helped by those that got on the registry. Finally they put him on an experimental drug called Glevic (sp?) and he has had no symptoms and a good blood count for the last 4 years. We thank God after every good test result. Kevin (my bro-in-law) has gotten used to taking his pill every day, not fully comprehending how close he is to possible upset.

The Friends of Heroes blog and Goodies for Mom (see the link on this post ) are teaming up to raise awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Check out their site if you'd like to learn more about the organization and the contest (I'd love to win one of the gift cards!) in conjunction with it.

Flowing Through My Fingers

Ruth is loving first grade so far. They started Tuesday and she's come home so happy. The only downside is the emotionalability of there being a new order to her life. She's lashed out a couple of times and burst into tears over nothing this week.

I wonder if my son is going to react the same way when he starts in 2 weeks. I'm enjoying the time I've had with my son "mano-a-momo" this week. He's done a beautiful job of playing by himself happily. I think he's enjoying the conflictlessness that comes with playing by himself.

I'm tasting the freedom of getting things done with less people to take care of. Crevices of my house that haven't seen clean in months are getting a hefty dose of it now. We've had a friend of ours (the aformentioned Turk) living with us since mid-June. I've been okay with it, but the size of my house and extra body are finally getting to me. I love the guy like a brother, but I'm counting down the weeks until he heads back to Turkey (probably in mid-Sept).

It's nice to be standing on the lip of having both of my kids in school all day. It's hard to know that my kids will have so many different influences on them that I will never know about. BUT, I look forward to all of the prayer and (hopefully) good conversations we'll have as a result of our slowly changing relationship. God is their guide and it becomes more and more obvious that I have my place, but I can't control all of them...and shouldn't!

Thoughts?

Punchline: And They All Lost Sleep, Ha!

The plumber finally made it to our house at 10pm where he proceeded to snake the pipes for 2 1/2 hours.

Our dear, lazy rental agency hasn't snaked the pipes in awhile. The plumber said it was the most roots he's seen in a very...long...time. We would've fallen asleep, but the pipes were too close to us and the ringing kept us awake (see how small our place is).

All's well, that shower's well!

Where's the Punchline?

Okay, there's a family of four, a grandpa and a Turk living in an 800 sq. ft. house with one bathroom....and the pipes back up into the toilet and tub...and I wish this was a joke.

Nope, that's the status of my household today. The plumber is currently 2-5 hours from being available. And, yes, we're all crossing our legs in anticipation of his arrival.

Let The Countdown Begin!

My sweet girl is starting 1st grade on Tuesday and I couldn't be happier. Seems like too much free, unscheduled time brings out the whiny's in my kiddos. They were fine up until 2 weeks ago...then my house became the most boring place on the planet for them. It was a hard week anyway since their friends across the street were on vacation.

To top it off, my horrormones were off the charts last week, my hubby was out of town AND I had to go buy school supplies. I HATE BUYING SUPPLIES...I was going to buy the pre-packaged set from the store, but they were all out. So, now I'm trying to decipher the descriptions of various writing implements and notebooks they have to have on Tuesday.
My son starts pre-K in 2 weeks and I have a feeling it will be hard on him to be the only kid in the house. He's going to be badgering me to allow him to play 3 hours of James Bond and Sonic a day I'm sure.

How are you and your munckins handling the run up to school?

Vote for Me!

Hey guys over on Mental Magma (www.mentalmagma.com) I'm a finalist in a contest...please go vote for my cheesy answer! Here's the link: http://www.mentalmagma.com/archives/293
Polls close on Sunday!!

Holding My Breath

God gave us a wonderful break from the monthly stress of wondering where rent will come from. I haven't had it cross my mind at all since February (thank God for tax credits). So, today is the first time in many months when I've dropped off the rent check trusting that the funds will be there by the time they cash it.

The hubby and I have had a lot of conversations lately about what God asks of His people in the area of money and stuff. I really think we (as Americans) have bought into the lie that God wants us to live comfortably.
Everything that I read in Scripture says that He'll provide for our "needs". What is a need people?! In a book called "The Heavenly Man" (a true story)there are many days when the man doesn't need to eat...at all! Apparently eating wasn't what he needed on those days.
To put that in perspective for us here...do we "need" to eat out or buy another pair of shoes for our kids. I think He gives us abundance so we can spread it around and make good use of it for His goals.
My English teacher in high school used to often say, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"

Thoughts?

Contest of the Day

Mommies United is holding a Back to School contest for some awesome prizes.
Check it out here: http://www.themommiesunited.com/2008/08/join-us.html

I Stepped Onto the Water...

...And Looked Away!
Why is that the Being and Word that matter most in our eternity gets the least attention?
If my relationship with Him gets 10% of my week right now, that's a good week...dude, that's messed up!
I know what you're going to say, "But you have Him on your mind and He's more involved than that."
I gotta admit, I don't right now...I've disconnected in a serious way most of the time.
I'm not looking for your pity or encouragement, I'm just trying to share the shock of this event with you.
Why do we do this to ourselves, our spouse, our kids?
How selfish of us to interact with them without having Him right there! How callous of me to listen to my friends' lives without asking Him to speak through me.

The Dark Ages

Was up at 3:45 AM today to start the flying standby circus in a successful trip to Montana. I was sitting around chatting with my parents, feeling so in my element (in a good way), when my grandparents showed up to squash it.

I don't know what it is about these people and their dismissive tones...their scoffing at any intelligence coming from my parents or I. Ugh!!! I love them, but I can't stand them. And to see them attempt to quell my parenting at belittle my kids free spirits...I don't think so.

Man, I wish coming to my childhood home were easier.

Sweet Tea

I spent the day touring THE best tea company in the world. I'm lucky enough to have the Celestial Seasonings plant just a scant 40 minute drive from my house. The glorious variety of tea never ceases to thrill my tongue.

Also, Regal Cinemas does a Free Family Movie Festival every summer near our house. Well, today's movie (the great Pippie Longstocking), suddenly started running backwards and upside down halfway through it. Now comes the reason why they'll get my patronage: they gave us all a free movie pass to ANY movie in their theater...this is for the mess up of a free movie people.

Ah, days don't get much better than this.

Cruel Words

Talk about a bittersweet way to end the day.

We spent the waning hours until bedtime playing with friends down the street. As my six year old was saying goodbye to her friend, her friend wanted to hug her. As us moms are standing there waiting for the hug to end I hear my daughter say:

"T and O don't really like you," in a flat matter of fact tone. Her friend ran out of the room and I stood there shocked. How do you react when your child has crushed another child with her tongue?

As we walked home I firmly told my daughter that she'd crushed her friend and was extremely cruel. I also took away all TV privileges for tomorrow and told her she couldn't play with friends until she had sincerely apologized and acknowledged her friend's pain.

As I was tucking them in my daughter burst into tears and said that she was stupid. She said she felt awful for saying it and for calling me unfair. She explained to me why her friend felt bad and I explained to her why she was feeling so awful.

So, we prayed for her heart, her friend's heart and for the day tomorrow. I was glad she grasped the gravity of her actions, but it sucks that bad stuff happens.

Lesson of The Day

Don't shove a whole hot dog in your mouth.

Why?

Because when shoving said dog in your mouth you will bite 2 of your fingers and it will REALLY hurt.

You'll start crying...with dog in your mouth.

This will cause you to suddenly inhale part of said hot dog and start choking.

Let this lesson stick with you son.

Recommendations

As many of you know, I'm an unusual female who passionately loves intimacy and sex. I've been this way since I married 7 seven years ago. I'm not sure I would've had the same excitement of the subject if I hadn't been a virgin, but I'm glad I do.
That excitement has caused me to do as much reading on the subject of sex (from both secular and God-centered sources). This week brought me two exceptional books, one from each category.
The secular book is called, "Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science & Sex" by Mary Roach. She comes at the subject determined to cover all the interesting bases and get the latest data. I loved it because of it's attention to the complicated female system and all that they know so far about it. How crazy that we're in 2008 and we still do not fully understand the female body.
http://www.amazon.com/Bonk-Curious-Coupling-Science-Sex/dp/0393064646/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I26UX9PLWMRXVT&colid=26Y034VDBA0RR

The Christian book is, "Naked And Not Ashamed" by Dan Scott. This book changed my week. He perfectly describes the deeply spiritual design of sex, intimacy and the marriage relationship. He shows how our culture has twisted this amazing blessing into something that the Church shies away from. This is a book that I bought and will be passing around to a lot of people.
http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Not-Ashamed-Redeems-Sexuality/dp/0736921907/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I23ET7IQO4B6LT&colid=26Y034VDBA0RR

Update on my neighbor: Thanks for praying, her and her hubby had a talk last Sunday and it was full of honesty and kindness. They don't know if they'll stay together, but it's an open and loving dialogue now.

The "D" Word

My heart's heavy today...my neighbor and her hubby will be discussing ending their decade long union within the next two days. She's like a sister to me and I hate to see her, her husband and their kids go through a marriage that is in trouble.
Please pray that the conversations they have surrounding the subject will be filled with loving honesty and good results.

Do You Ever Get Tired of Being Robbed??

The hubby left Wednesday to meet up with his bestest buddy Maks in Kiev, Ukraine. He's really reached the end of his traveling rope for the next month and swears he doesn't want to hop on another flight for a solid month. (Whatever, he's a flying addict...I give him 2 weeks) Anyhoo, no big deal to me and the kiddos cause we're used to our nutty lives and are going to hang out with our bestest neighbor friends AND my sister tonight.

Dear hubby calls me at noon today and I was so excited to hear his voice...then he had to ruin by asking me, "Did I happen to leave the camera at our house?" Turns out the seasoned traveler had PACKED the camera in his checked bag...checked bag got "lost" and showed up in Ukraine today, without the camera. Argh! This is the man who scoffs at the idiotic travelers who pack their keys, phones or any valuable in luggage when they check in at the airport. So, I was pissed.
And yes, I'm tired of being robbed. Granted, it's been about four years since the last time, but here's a short list of everything that's been taken from us in the last 7 years.

-our Olympus camera (that's the new one)
-a video camera
-all of our clothes and our daughter's clothes
-my journal
-all the money in our bank account (this done forcibly by big burly Turks in Istanbul)
-another camera
-another camera
-CD cases on 4 seperate occasions
-about $300 over 2 years by our hotel cleaning lady
A
nd other assorted things that I can't remember. I don't know, maybe we were just due to be robbed.

What's been stolen from you?

The New Layout

A couple of weeks ago I won an awesome new blog layout from Designs by Sheila. I think she did an amazing job and I'm so glad to not have my blah template anymore. If you'd like to check out her designs, her button is on my sidebar!

Contest of the Day

The Daily Grind of a WAHM is giving away the Slide by Go Gaga. This is an awesome diaper bag...check it out! http://workathomemom.typepad.com/the_daily_grind_of_a_work/2008/06/go-gaga-or-go-home.html

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What Lies Within the Mirror is giving away a candle in honor of the opening of her store. You can find out more here: http://rarereflection.com/2008/06/05/candle-contest.aspx

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This is a great contest hosted by The Secret is in the Sauce. They're giving away a Bounce House!! Eeee! Here's the link: http://thesecretisinthesauce.blogspot.com/2008/06/six-weeks-of-summer.html

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The fabulous blog Oh, hey What's up? is giving away 5 magazine subscriptions to one lucky person! Check it out:
http://corrinrenee.com/2008/06/24/giveaway-5-magazine-subscriptions-to-one-winner/

10 Days is My Limit

We've been able to Skype with our kids every 2 days since we got here (Skype is video and voice communication over the internet). I think it's really helped them not miss us to be able to see and hear us still. They're staying with their grandparents who proudly allow them to be slackers...a.k.a. TV and candy. I think it's great, that was always the best part of HAVING grandparents when I was a kid.

So, today I reached my limit...up until today I'd enjoyed the break from my kids, but now I'm relishing the thought of interacting with them again. Ten days is my point, as a mom, when I start missing their daily cuteness. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but I also understand how good it can be (for me & them) for us to have time apart.

One odd thing about this trip was the rash. The water here smells really minerally and something in it reacted with my skin. The bed would make me itch at night, luckily I'd brought my own blanket and that kept the rash at bay. BUT, daily shower was killer and it took me a couple of days to figure this one out. Cortisone cream and I have become really good friends.

Here's a couple more yummy meal pictures.

The Au Natural Cleanse

Do you want to know what I love the most about overseas travel? The great cleanse it gives my digestive system. Nothing is more magical than all that time on the porcelain. Ironically enough, this time my system started to malfunction on the days when we ate American-like food.

KFC is huge here and it's actually pretty tasty. Their iced coffee sundae is yummy. The best thing I've eaten so far today was mutton wrapped in pita that was very reminiscient of a french dip.

I'm hoping my system will hold it together enough for me to continue to enjoy my meals.

Me & Anthony Bourdain

Of all the places I've been (Nicaragua, Turkey, Thailand, China), China is the ONLY place I've been where the food has always agreed with me. I think the fact that our friends are always looking out for superb places for their own meals may be a part of that.

The title mentioning Bourdain is a funny concidence. I happened to see the end of an episode of "No Reservations" last week where he was in an Asian country, eating meats and veggies out of a boiling pot of spicy and mild liquids. He also mentioned this peppercorn type thing in the dish that would turn your mouth numb. Lo and behold, a place called Hot Pot here serves just such a thing. Me being the high junkie that I am tried said ill-advised peppercorn. It was...interesting...in a numbing way that I'll never try again.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the mushrooms here are so tasty and so varied. The mushroom in America is boring and looked down upon and here it's often a prominent ingredient.

The foods we dumped into the hot pot pictured above were mushrooms, broccoli, quail eggs and rolls of beef. I'm not sure greedily licking your chopsticks is kosher here, but it's nigh on impossible for me not to!

Of Beds and Muslim meals

We're here, in western China. We had a great 15 1/2 hour flight from Atlanta to Shangai...no first class, but it wasn't that full so we had an empty seat between us.

The Eastern China Air flight from Shangai to Yinchuan was interesting. At that point I was so tired that my olifactory senses were on Spidey sense and everything smelled disgusting. Totally reminded me of that first trimester. Riddle me this, why in the world do they serve a meal on there labled "Muslim"???

In Colorado there's a Matteress store called "Mattress Firm", I'd consider that false advertising. The mattress's here feel like they've taken a board and softened it slightly. Then they sell it as a mattress.

I have to remind myself (this has been a small theme for me this year) that we were never promised a good night sleep every night. It's not a need it's a want and since I'm really greedy with my sleep, this has been a good lesson for me to learn.

The fact that our friends here have the only Starbucks coffee in their house this side of China, that can make up for a whole host of comforts lost. Stay tuned for all the excitement and pushy natives that you can handle!

My Aching Tokhes (Yiddish for Butt)

Raise your hand if you think a 15 hour plane trip will help my lower back pain...you, in the back, put your hand down!

Not quite sure what I did to it: compressed vertebrae, weak back muscles, jumping on a trampoline, wrenched muscles...something.

Anyhoo, not really looking forward to all those hours on our way to China. If you pray, pray for my back. And (spoiled baby that I am) pray that we can go in first class so it's not so back on my back.

To all my readers, I'll be in China until the 18th of this month. Not sure if they'll let me blog from there, but if so you'll be hearing from me.

Ya Call THIS Glamorous?!

Occasionally one of our friends will comment on how great and fancy it must be to fly for free anytime we want. Now, I won't complain at all about flying for free, but it's anything but fancy or easy.
We have to fly standby, all the time, no matter what. That means that we only get on if there's not a seat taken, sometimes we don't know that until we're out there waiting for a flight. We usually try to find flights that have at least 8 seats not taken, just to be safe.
A case in point would be Monday. We flew from Denver to Alanta at midnight Sunday, so that we would be sure to be there for the first flight to Nashville Monday morning. The first FOUR flights to Nashville ended up full which was something we couldn't have know before we got there. That meant we spent 10 hours at the airport waiting for a flight without having much sleep. Not fun, let me tell you.
Good practice for the kids though for those overseas trips.
Interesting sidenote: Apparently when your body is severly lacking in sleep it gets really, really hungry.

I Pulled a Mommy Dearest

It'll be awhile before my kids will repress this one! We did something out of the ordinary yesterday and went to Casa Bonita http://www.casabonitadenver.com/ with my cousin and sister. I remarked to my sis as we stood in the cattle-like line that I don't understand why this place is so well known.

Then we sat down and I remembered how magical an underground restaurant with divers can be. Ruth barely touched her food and wanted to get up and go watch the show (which was pretty good).

We finished eating and started wandering around looking at different sections of the building. There was a cave the kids could walk through and I remembered how much Ruth enjoyed it a couple years ago. I insisted they go through it.

"But, I'm scared," Ruth said.

"There's nothing to be scared of," I scoffed.

They went in and I waited, then I started to get a little suspicious, so I went in after them. Sure enough, it was a cheesy haunted house. My son had his hands clapped over his ears and was crying. My daughter was whimpering. I walked them through it quickly, mentally kicking myself.

Of course they could talk about nothing else the rest of the time we were there. I totally ruined the night for them. I know it'll end up being one of those stories they'll pass onto their friends years from now.

Doh!

I,I,IKEA!!

The family I took a 2 day vacation to Minneapolis this week courtesy of being able to fly for free. The first day was spent swimming in the hotel pool and going to play at McDonalds (the kids are easy to please).
I missed the first day because I got the joy of flying on to pick up my passport in Chicago from the Chinese consulate. I was so ecstatic to see that visa in there. It took me awhile to realize that they'd issued the stamp in my MAIDEN name. What idiot doesn't look at the application when issuing the visa?! Hopefully it won't be a problem since my passport is in my maiden name with a little amendment on the back page.
The second day of vacation was spent at the infamous Mall of America. We couldn't do the amusement park because my poor son was too short to be able to participate. We did go to the aquarium...twice.
The surprise enjoyment of the day turned out to be a trip to IKEA. If you haven't heard of this glorious company or seen their furniture, you're missing out. We walked in and the first thing we saw was a great childcare area. You drop your kids off (FREE of charge) for an hour and you can look at their cheap and comfortable products. They had a restaurant (very kid friendly) that was very cheap and had lingonberry juice. Needless to say we both fell in love.

In other news, all the flying around did bupkis for my sinusesl

We were Kung Fu Fighting

I really expected that by the time I had reached 7 years of marriage that hubby and I would've learned how to discuss things well...this is apparently NOT the case.

Whether it's politics, passports, predestination or popsicles we lose are heads every time and completely forget the other's discussion needs.

Take me: I need time to process. Bring me the initial issue of discussion, debate for 20 minutes...then let me go do the dishes and process all the pertinent information and pray.

Hubby's style is discuss it, discuss it, discuss it until an answer is found. He's an outloud processor and likes my input.

I like to hear both sides and then mull it over while my emotions calm down.

It's irritating to both of us because we want to argue effectively so that the most God-honoring solution is reached. Darn our humanity and tempers. I can't tell if the kids can even tell that we're have a heated debate...they just seem annoyed that I can't answer their questions or tend to their needs in the middle of it.

What's your discussion style?
Have you and your spouse figured it out?

Quake

I know a lot of people dislike NPR because of its political leanings and some social agendas, BUT I listen to next to nothing else on a weekly basis. The reason being that I am a lover of random information. They talk about such a plethora of things that it meets that need.
I also find that they continue to talk about world affairs long after main stream news has set it aside.

I heard a piece yesterday about the search efforts after the quake in China. An NPR reporter was following this couple in their day long search for their son and parents. Even though you couldn't understand the words, the mother's emotions came through clearly as she went through anger, hope and finally despair and mourning. Throughout the story you could hear the noises as they dug through the rubble and dealt with each bit of news.

They didn't leave the noises out...that's what killed me. I can ignore large scale tragedy in the face of cold reporting, but this piece was meant to hit home...and it did.

So, as I sit here in safe old Colorado I think of the thousands of mothers and family's dealing with loss, I pray.

The Perks of the Job?

I flew to Chicago at 4am yesterday and was back to Denver by 11pm.

What was I doing????

I was going to the Chinese consulate silly to try and get a visa. Their office turned out to be a lot like a trip to the DMV. Take a number and spend time in a small room with a lot of grumpy and smelly people. Luckily they kept taking applications long after they were supposed to close or I would've been screwed.

I'm in love with their public transportation system. Super easy to manuever and very cheap. Darn Denver and it's spread out western ways.

In other (related) news, I get to fly back to Chicago next Tuesday to pick up my passport...hopefully with a visa in it. I really should be glad because if the hubby didn't work for the airline I wouldn't even have been able to apply at the consulate and would've been SOL.

What'd you do yesterday?

House

Best line from the episode Monday: "Confirmation is for wimps...and altar boys."

Contests of the Day

Kristin, from An Ordinary Life is having a fabulous giveaway. She is giving away an amazing purse from The Sak. Check it out!

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Green & Clean Mom is teaming up with PUR filtrations systems to give away 5 water filtration systems. Check out Thirst for Change after you check out the contest. http://greenandcleanmom.blogspot.com/2008/05/help-cindy-crawford-and-be-winner-keep.html

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Mom Reviews is giving away a great prize pack including Jig-A-Loo. Here's the link: http://momreviews.net/2008/05/04/jig-a-loo-funny-name-great-product-huge-giveaway/

Live it Up and Give It Up

I just got back from a Beth Moore conference in Colorado Springs. I'm wrung out in the best way!
If you haven't heard of this woman, you're missing out. I'm very hard on well-known leaders in Christianity and Moore passes with flying colors. There may have been 10,000 women there, but she keeps it centered on prayer and makes it personal.
Being there with the studly women from my church made it even better. I wish there was some way to hang out with them more. It ain't like it was in high school when you could see them at your locker, class or lunch.
Please pray for me Tuesday as I fly to Chicago in a last ditch effort for the Chinese consulate to accept my visa.

Now...the Short Version

It's snowing.
It's May 1st.
Said snow is killing my peas, spinach and radishes.

I'm supposed to be going to Beth Moore tomorrow.
Hubby's schedule changed.
Don't know if I'm going now. :0P

China denied my visa because they're uptight.
They are going to look disfunctional during the Olympics.
Grrrrrrrrrr.

In the "House"!!!

Ah, one of the good ones is finally back. "House, M.D." made its return tonight. I'm glad to see the two teams back and continue to be surprised at the amount of screen time given to Chase and Cameron. I feel a little disconnected to the plotline after the long break. Love that the bitch is dating Wilson...I hope they run that storyline for awhile. Does anyone else wish the tension between House and Cuddy would just end?

I'm in Montana picking up our new '91 Lincoln Town Car. We've dubbed it "Big Blue" and I'm hoping it runs for a couple of 100, 000 miles.

After flying so much I'm really looking forward to the drive through Wyoming with the kids. We'll see how much whining ensues.

Contest of the Day

5 Minutes for Mom is having a Mother's Day giveaway running until April 9th. They kicked it off with a $1,000 Mother’s Day Photo Contest. So, go check out the Mother’s Day Giveaway.

I've Been Duped

NOBODY TOLD ME IT WOULD END THIS WAY!!!

I JUST finished Veronica Mars and I'm so sad at the way it ends. Soooooooo disappointed.

Contests of the Day

The Clean Plate Club is giving away a $50 GC to Williams Sonoma. Check it out here: http://www.bubbleandsqueak.biz/cleanplateclub/2008/03/bloggy-giveaway-williams-sonoma-gift.html

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The Crunchy Domestic Goddess is celebrating Earth Mother Day and is giving away some amazing prize packages. Enter it here: http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/2008/04/22/the-earth-mothers-day-giveaway/

Bad Things Come in Threes...now Fours!

1. The Isuzu Rodeo that the Russians fixed for us, stopped working yesterday while I was going home. Luckily I could coast off the road. They put the stinking clutch in wrong!!!!

2. My visa application to China was denied today. We're going to try and get them more information so that they'll approve it.

3. The internet stopped working for most of today...

4. ...lastly, while I was telling my sister that bad things come in three I hear a mini glass explosion happen in my oven. My pie plate burst and ruined my yummy fish dinner.

It's been a fantastic day I tell ya!

Update!

All my blogging juices seemed to have been spat out this month. I've been on here a lot, I just haven't had much to say. Spent a lot of time coasting lately and vegging out in front of the TV, but I've done it without that nice balance of personal depth and passion that I need. The kids and I head to Montana this week to pick up the boat (aka Lincoln Continental) that my grandma gave me for my birthday. Both kids are completely confused about how we're going to DRIVE back from Montana.

Caedmon: How many days does that take?

Ruth: Where are we going to sleep??!

Spoiled kids think that flying is the only way to get anywhere now. What are they ever going to do when Jason doesn't work for an airline anymore?! *insert sarcasm*

In other news, my sister sadly found an apartment, so she'll be moving out at the beginning of May...four whole blocks away people! I'm going to die.

Better in the Bedroom

I've mentioned before how my sex drive is on the strong side. I saw a post on Parent Bloggers http://blog.parentbloggers.com asking women what they can do as well as any man.
Let me tell you ladies I can get turned on more easily than any man out there. If the hubby just looks at me or wiggles his eyebrows I'm a goner. If he says one phrase that I could take with a double meaning or if he kisses me, he better watch out. Even after 7 years of marriage I'm ready to go every night. I'm telling you that no two sex drives are ever created equal, and I was created with one in hyperdrive.

http://www.askpatty.com/mycarpage.php

The post I mentioned above at Parents Blogger is part of a contest to win one of thirteen fabulous CarMD handheld testers. With our old beaters this would be a help! Check it out here, but hurry because you have to enter by tomorrow: http://blog.parentbloggers.com/2008/04/11/blog-blast-anything-they-can-do-we-can-do-too/

Contest of the Day

The ladies over at 5 Minutes for Mom are once again hosting a very awesome contest. Check out their “Two Weeks of Toys” Giveaway post. Contest runs from April 9-23.

For You...Special Price!

I thought it was finally safe to move some of my plants outside since it's APRIL, but we've had a very cold March and it snowed today. What's a gardener supposed to do?

I'm getting the shakes over the last season of Veronica Mars. It's been 4 days since I finished the second season. For the love, whoever has it checked out right now, return it to the library already! Some of us NEED the angsty TV. Some people have no sense of urgency.

Our Isuzu Rodeo has been out of commission since Thanksgiving...we handed it over to the Russian mechanics today. This is always very interesting because Russians, in general, are very interesting. My hubby's friend is a Lithuanian who hooked him up with these guys. Everything's done because you know someone and there's always a good "deal." Stay tuned to see if it stays a good "deal".

*UPDATE*
It wasn't as good a deal as we thought. Apparently Isuzu made this part in TWO different sizes for the same make of car. Our car needs the bigger more expensive part. Go figure.

The Skeez Factor

How do you know when the 14 yr old neighbor boy likes you just a little too much? When he starts putting his arm around your shoulder. The thing is that I think this boy and his sister are nice. Both of their parents work a lot, so they hang with my kids just for something to do and to get some attention from an adult. How do I nicely tell him to knock it off? I'd hate to kick him outta my yard, but he seems to have boundary issues in general.

That leads me skeez male number two. There is a guy at church that has no idea how uncomfortable he makes the females around him. A lot of hugs and shoulder nudges...the thing that sucks is that I think he's oblivious to it. What happened in their upbringing/personality that makes them miss those normal social clues as to what is appropriate and what makes females avoid them. Sigh, unfortunately THAT'S my observation for the day.

Ugh!

Between staying up late because I missed my hubby and watching Veronica Mars, I am dragging on no cylinders today. Why is it that when hubby is here I feel so tired when I stay up late with him, YET, when he's gone, I can stay up late and not feel tired??? Does he give off some sleep pheramone or something? I know he wishes it were the other way around. I think I've sucked him into watching Veronica Mars with me. Cackle, cackle, cackle!

I finally got off my sorry butt and worked out this week. I decided to deny the number on the scale...it's at the top of my 10 lb range of comfortable. It niggles at me, but I really don't care too much. What's funny about me is no matter what weight I'm at (pregnancy included) I think I'm sexy and have no problem getting "in the mood." I'm telling ya, somehow my sex drive was swapped with a male!

The Sister Has Landed!

My sister made it here on Wednesday and moved into our back room!! People who don't like their siblings may not understand my glee, but I feel like a piece of me has fallen back into place. Along with the titles of Wife, Mother, Self, I get to wear Sister proudly and daily for awhile.

My sis and I fought and disliked each other until I got into junior high. Then we started taking long walks almost daily and REALLY talking. Somehow with all that talking we started to truly love each other's presence. It's a person who loves me on the girly level (like hubby can't) but is family. I've caught glimpses of my genetics in my sweet 6 yr old, but my sister still know my jokes and quirks in ways I hope my daughter does someday. Is it wrong to want a relationship like that with my daughter someday? I don't think so.

I also look at our relationship and hope that my two kids will have such a great relationship with each other as I do. Actually, hubby has a great repore with his brother, so maybe that being modeled will rub off.

Our folks moved her stuff down and of course my kids went for the shock factor of talking about butts, poop and, erm, other parts AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Nothing like continuing to make your parenting look psycho, thanks kids.

Girls are From Veronica Mars

I kept hearing about the show "Veronica Mars" a couple years back and it just never made it onto my weekly schedule. WELL, my wonderful library is now lending out TV series!! Certainly one of the best decisions they've made during this here writer's strike. Let me tell you, this show is great! Some drama, teen angst and a great undercurrent of mystery. So, instead of being productive, I'm burning my way through the first season.
Also, a comment on "Curb Your Enthusiasm". I watched the 2nd season and got so annoyed by Larry David's whining, I wanted to kick him! By the end of the season, they'd either toned down the annoying or tuned it out.
I just don't know if "Grey's Anatomy" will be back on my radar once it has new episodes. I'm terrified that "Heroes" will lose its following since it won't be back until the fall. Ugh, thank goodness for TV on DVD and my local library.

In other news, the hubby is still in China. I guess someone snuck into their rooms last night and poked around on their laptops while they were sleeping. Nice huh! Wouldn't be the first country where they were overly concerned about our presence.

Hubby of the Decade

Go look at this ring:
http://www.metmuseum.org/store/st_beautyShop_Page.asp/familyID/%7B39022BFE-80DE-11D3-9367-00902786BF44%7D/FromPage/catjewelry/catID/%7BEF58F4B2-8B11-11D3-9367-00902786BF44%7D/familyNo//callFromRelViewer//SpecialPermFlag//FromSearch/

This ring is something that I've wanted for the last 5 years. This same ring is now on my finger. My sweet husband completely floored me yesterday by giving it to me for my birthday/anniversary/Valentine gift. It was such a loving gesture from him. Though now that think about it, he might be warming me up so he can buy a new gun for hunting season.
Either way, I'm feeling very loved this week and a little sad because he left to visit our friends in China.
Pray for his plane connections as he's flying standby.

Last night my 4 yr old son was wrapped up in his towel after his bath and asked me, "Mom, do I have tentacles?"
Me:"Um no, squid's have tentacles."
Caedmon: "Oh I thought I had some on my butt"
Me: "You mean testicles?!"
Caedmon: "Yeah, do I have those?"
Me: "Yes honey, you do"
I've always advocated correct terminology of body parts and explaining (age appropriately) their functions. This has helped at times, but there have been some embarrassing moments!

Do you use alternate words for body parts or are you explicit?

Quick Update

Sorry for the silence, we lost internet for awhile and now I've been busy with a bridal shower, getting ready for my sister's arrival, hubby leaving for China and general life busyness. Hopefully I'll be back soon!

Some Answers...

Praise Him, for He can open up my eyes AND THEN show me the next step.
I have had myself tied up in knots over cars for the last month (maybe longer) and that's made me deal with my emotional/spiritual response to my routine getting bumped. I've realized, once again, that He does what needs to be done. The thing that throws me is accepting His timing, which is always right in hindsight.
So, we had one car fixed last week and this week my sweet grandma chose to give me her Lincoln Continental for my birthday. I had called her to offer to buy it, but she is giving it to us and his having my dad get it driveworthy. It may be a couple of weeks until it's here in Colorado (it's in North Dakota right now), but He has given us an answer.
The benefit to my soul (for all this waiting) has been great, and that was the real gift.
Silly me.

The Reading Corner

Rarely do I find works of fiction that deeply affect and grow my view of God and reality. I've been blessed to have read two such books recently.

"Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana" by Anne Rice. The same Rice who wrote all the vampire books. She's become a believer and is writing a fiction trilogy on Christ growing up. Her first book was okay, but this second book shows a depth of theological and spiritual understanding that had me crying. Her portrayals of Christ's baptism and temptation in the desert are affecting. She gives a greatly detailed account of the Jewish history surrounding Christ at the time.

"The Shack" by William Young. I hate bandwagons and this is definately a book that Christians are jumping on. How could they not when it's so encouraging to the Spirit and has sound theology in it.

This has definately encouraged me the last week...I think His timing is good, even in my reading schedule.

The Ultimate Blog Party!

Alas, here I am getting in on the action late!

Here I am though. Now, on to the nitty gritty:



I live in dry old Golden, Colorado, it's a suburb (I guess) of Denver so we have all the big city fun with a small town feel.

I am currently 26 and have been married for 7 years. And if you can do the math, I was 18 when I eloped with my studly husband. We eloped because we knew we were to get married and family disagreed. Best decision ever!

We are missionaries, heart and soul. We were burned by our first missions organization and have since taken on the position of missions pastor at our church. Our heart yearns to move to Turkey, but until God gives us the green light we are all about encouraging those we know out in the field.

I've been to Thailand, China, Nicaragua and Turkey and am constantly itching to go to more places.

My daughter Ruth (age 6) is an old hand at travel since her first trip overseas was at 4 months. She's the spitting image of me as a child and I love it!

My son Caedmon (nearly 4) is a constant comedian and a light in the house. Did I mention that he's cute.

"What do you blog about?" you may ask. WELL, just about everything. TV, movies, mood swings, parenting, misplaced ribs, odd eating habits and my growth and learning of my spiritual walk. I'm honest and am also a cusser...which drives my spouse crazy! I strive to encourage those around me to be more of the people they were created to be.

There's an amazing list of prizes for this Blog Party. Here are my top picks:

#7-Bead Dangle Photo Tile Necklace by Elemental Memories

#21-Foot Revitalizer by ORNA

#72-Webcam given by Liz

Here are some of my other picks: 55, 59, 79, 87, 91, 95, 103, 107,

Rage Against The Machine

I feel like a walking talking stressed out ball 'o anger! All over a couple of dead cars! Granted, they're our only cars, but really I shouldn't be taking this on...it's not my deal, it's God's deal. I'm shocked at my own bad attitude.
We've been blessed by having amazing friends. Connor has been over here for 3 days working on one of our wrecks with his cousin. They do all of this knowing we can't pay them for their services. What's funny is they've replaced 4 parts that desperately needed to be replaced and the damn thing still isn't working. It's running, but running like a chain smoking marathoner.
So, I woke myself up with worry (and an aching rib) at 5am this morning. Loads 'o fun in this househod I tell ya!

Word To The Wise

Don't bowl with your rib still out of place...it doesn't help the healing process.