At Least I'm Still Cold in Church!

I have not mentioned to you, my internet friends that I have been suffering from some pretty severe headaches of late, but I have. Really, really severe. And of course, I lived with them for more than a month, trying every over-the-counter medication I could find to get rid of them. When it finally occurred to me that my arms were not long enough to hold my book out far enough for me to properly focus on it, and that I was spending a great deal of time during the day squinting at things across the room, I considered the fact that perhaps my headaches might just have something to do with my eyeballs!

So, I made an appointment with Dr. Dennis (no, I'm not kidding) and after an exam and a visit to LensCrafters, I was rewarded with the following statement, "Yes ma'am, your bi-focals will be ready in 7-10 days." Um, excuse me? What was that?

Ah yes, welcome to the joys of life in your forties...

Because I had all four of the children with me (where else would they be?), they chose my frames for me. It's taking me awhile to get used to the new face I see in the mirror, (yes, I can now see my face in the mirror!) but I hear that they are very hip, and happening...I'm not so sure how hip bi-focals can really be, but I did get the no-line type, so no one has to know! So how about we just keep that little detail between us, shall we? (And yes, I'm aware that this is not a very good picture.)

And because I know you're scratching your head about now...as for being cold in church? Our church is freezing. I take a sweater with me even in the summer because it is so cold in there. Occasionally, however, I will see some poor woman across the room madly fanning herself. There can be only one reason for this my friends...hot flash! Therefore, as I sat in church on Sunday with my new bi-focals, I found I was still able to find something to praise God for...you guessed it....AT LEAST I'M STILL COLD IN CHURCH!!! Hallelujah and Amen!

What Pure Joy Looks Like...

...to a twelve-year-old boy...


...and his daddy!

Has it really been that long???

Wow, I was just talking to my sister and she reminded me that I hadn't updated the blog in awhile...(Just for the record, I've had sick kids, cake orders, Christmas shopping, etc. to occupy my days and nights lately.)...but honestly, I had no idea it had been 9 days since my last post! I was thinking more like...um...four....oops!

So, even though I'm right smack dab in the middle of a laundry, cleaning, and gift-wrapping extravaganza and I still have a little shopping, and Christmas baking left to do, I thought I'd better write something quick to catch you all up just a little bit!

Since I've been gone, Denise and I have run in another 5K race...she totally kicked my butt this time. It was impossible to stick together in the crowd of around 4,000, so I just ran my race and thought I was going at a pretty fast pace for the first mile or so and expected to finish about 5 minutes ahead of her since my previous best time was about 14-15 minute miles and hers was 17.

But this race was a unique one because it ran through the Christmas Trail of Lights which is a huge annual event here, and there were soooo many people, and soooo many of them were pushing strollers, and walking their dogs, and stopping to take pictures of the lights, and to pick up their dog's poop, that we ended up having to slow down and switch course many, many, times during the race. I told her that I think I actually ran about 4 miles if you counted all the back and forth across the trail I was doing! Now, the race didn't exactly start out well for either of us. We were a little later arriving because of obligations with my children, and parking was closed, so we had to park almost a mile away and walk to the race start! I KNOW!!! And about the time we were too far away from the car for me to consider going back, I realized that I had left my MP3 player IN THE CAR! Aargh!!! Have I mentioned that I hate running without music? It encourages me. It relaxes me. It makes the run tolerable. And...it paces me. About this time I also realized that I wasn't wearing my running watch either...sigh. Can you say, "Give it up and head to Starbucks?" Yeah, sounded good to me too! So, here I was running with no music, no watch, right behind a guy holding his bag of dog poop (it's very hard to be sucking air when you are following a bag of dog poop, by the way) I was completely miserable, and not enjoying the lights at all, but I still had hope to finish with a new personal best time. So, I reached the 2 mile marker tired, but determined to finish the race without walking and hopefully log a decent time despite all the "lap traffic". Guess what was waiting for us in the final 1.2 miles of the race? HILLS!!! Three or four of them to be exact, but one very long, fairly steep one that threatened to do me in. I continued out of pure determination since I had absolutely NO energy left, and no music to keep me going. But I did keep going, and just as I'm recovering from the first hill and enjoying a brief downhill section of the course, here comes Denise right up alongside of me! I was impressed! Not because I'm any great runner or anything, but Denise has only been running for a few months, and she hadn't run at all in the past month! I had at least run 3 miles a couple of weeks before the race, so I knew I could still do it even though my training had slacked off as well. We ended up finishing within a minute of each other, but the thing is, she took 3 or 4 minutes off of her previous best 5K time, and I added 5 minutes to my previous best time! The best part of the whole race was that at the end of the race, there was a Starbuck's Station set up and they were giving away free Peppermint Mochas! They were really not much more than a shot-glass full, but still...totally made the run worth it for me! So, big props to Denise for a great run! I hope you are proud of yourself. And Vanessa, if you're reading this, where were you? I think you should join us for the next race, don't you think?

And now, although I have much more to tell you, I do need to get back to the laundry, cleaning, gift-wrapping, and baking. I'll try to jump back on here later to continue the update, 'cause really, I have a big one for you! Well, it's not that big really, but it's big to me.

Thanks for stopping by!

There's a book review in here somewhere....

Wow, so many things have happened since The Perp broke my snow globe that I don’t know if I’ll be able to post about all of it!

You already know about my previous hair disaster, and my subsequent cry to the people for help, and the result of all your help. 

But what you don’t know is that I’ve been in a book reading/movie watching frenzy around here in my “spare” time, HA! Yes, we homeschool here, and we go year ‘round, so we take vacation whenever we darn well please from Thanksgiving thru New Year’s. The idea is to spend time together making fun Christmas crafts and baking lots of Christmas goodies and just enjoying the holidays together. The reality is that for the first week or so, we all just chill out and relax. The kids spend hours and hours outside on the trampoline, making make-shift BMX tracks in my backyard, and pilfering things out of Dad’s garage without permission to create whatever fantasy world they wish to live in that day! In the meantime, I read and watch movies and other completely mind-numbing activities until I find that I can once again hold a cohesive thought in my brain for more than 5 minutes. At least, that has been the reality in the past…

The reality this year is that I spend my days trying to catch up on chores that have gone neglected for far too long, I run around town looking for black dresses, black pants, and white shirts that the children need for the Christmas program at church. I still cart kids back and forth to ballet, Youth Group, and now, Christmas program rehearsals. Just this month The Man and I have attended a wedding, a Christmas party with over 700 guests, and his office Christmas party…I’ve promised my mother that I won’t ask her to babysit again until next year!

However, I do try to spend at least a few minutes every day reading a book, and I try to wake up before the rest of the crowd to have quiet time, and if possible watch a movie…all by myself. I’ve recently seen and highly recommend, “Amazing Grace” and “End of the Spear”. If there is anybody left on the planet that has not seen either of these movies, they are both really good! I have also been reading an absolutely fabulous book that was sent to me by New Hope Publishing to review. And I am not exaggerating when I tell you that it is one of my most favoritest books ever, and NO, I won’t be giving it away on this blog. I have, however, purchased one and given it away as a prize at my church when it was my turn to host the ladies dinner. And I might just be persuaded to purchase another copy or two to give away here on the blog, but I absolutely will NOT be giving up my copy. I read it every morning during my quiet time, and I intend to read it over and over again.

“What is this book?” you ask. Well, let me tell you. The book is called “Wonderlust; A Spiritual Travelogue for the Adventurous Soul”, and it is by Vicki Kuyper. And she is now officially one of my all-time favorite authors! Reading this book is like reading one of my favorite blogs! Really, I’m not kidding! Just listen to the first paragraph in this book…(and by listen, I mean, of course, read it to yourself!)

“Is it my imagination or are my hiking boots actually mocking me? With each rhythmic step on the rocky trail, they seemed to whisper, ‘Imposter, fraud, fool . . . What are you doing here?’ Whether it was my imagination, the lack of oxygen at this altitude, or an actual protest staged by my brand-spanking-new purple footwear, one thing was certain. I totally agreed with my shoes.”

Now seriously, doesn’t that just make you want to keep reading? Not only is she writing in the style of some of my favorite blogs, but PURPLE HIKING BOOTS!!! We could be related! Because a 5 mile hike up a mountain in Peru is no excuse to abandon funky fashion, can I get an “Amen” sistas? Each chapter relates a lesson that God taught her through whatever situation or country she was in at the time. Some are funny, some are poignant, and some are sad, but all speak to the heart and soul, and all will touch you in some way. There are even discussion questions at the end of each chapter that you can use for group study, or just for your own journaling/reflection. It is truly a resource that I will treasure and use over and over for years to come. Which is why I will not be giving away my copy! However, you may either run right out to your local bookstore and pick up your own copy, go here and order a copy, add it to your Christmas wish list, or leave a comment here for a chance to win one!

If you wish to win one from me, then you must write a post on your blog, to help get the word out to as many people as possible, and then just leave a comment letting me know that you did, and you’ll be entered in the drawing! If you don’t have a blog, then just promise to tell everybody you know all about this fabulous book, and leave a comment with said promise! Really, it is a fabulous book and you will be blessed by the stories and lessons within it’s pages.

So go, post, and return with comments! I've got to tackle some laundry, and then I'll come back and finish catching you all up on life here at the zoo circus looney bin.

But Mom, I didn't mean to....

THE CRIME

THE PERPETRATOR

THE PUNISHMENT

REPENTENCE

FORGIVENESS

The People Have Spoken....

So, I called my old hairdresser-guy (from back before I had kids and back when I paid real money for real haircuts) and told him that I wanted to return to the land of good hair and could he possibly fix the mess on my head before all my holiday parties this week? He was free this morning, and welcomed me back with open arms! Besides, the kids ate yesterday, they can go a couple of days without food for the sake of good hair, right? Yeah, I thought so too!

It seemed that the general consensus, around the blogosphere and my house, was to get away from the bangs and go with the longer layers...which, by the way, makes me look remarkably like my sister. I'd post a picture of her so you could see for yourselves, but she doesn't allow pictures, so I'll have to sneak one at Christmas time!

Anyway, I decided to go ahead and try the new look, except for one small problem...I already have bangs, so I couldn't immediately jump into the new look! We are going to grow them out gradually over time and eventually end up with a slightly longer version of hairstyle #1 in my previous post (the second picture--that was a bit confusing I think!)

However, my fabulous hairdresser-guy thought that perhaps the holidays were not the appropriate time to have one's bangs growing out, so he shaped them up, gave me a fabulous cut, and we'll grow the bangs out during baseball season when I'm wearing a hat most of the time anyway!

And THIS is what I look like now...only not quite so distorted and close up, because most people don't stand 12 inches from my face at a funny angle like my camera does when I'm trying to take my own picture! LOL!!!


And here is one from a little farther away, so you can see how short it is! YIKES! There was really no choice. In order to undo the damage done to it the last time, we had to chop most of it off...sigh. Oh well, it will grow. And this time, it will grow out pretty!

Oh, and this picture was taken looking into the mirror, which explains why my part, and my ear have jumped to the opposite side of my head!


So thank you to all of you who voted, and now you can all sit back and watch while I grow out my bangs! Yee-Haw! This is compelling stuff isn't it? Hey, maybe I'll get braces too, and completely live out BOTH of the most horrific experiences of a twelve-year-old girl...orthodontia and growing out bangs!