I'm alive!

Ok... I just got one of those "where are you woman?" emails, so I figure I should make a blog entry. Seriously... I think I have three hundred lurkers out there... you should rise up and be counted! If I go more than 24 hours without an update y'all think I've been abducted by aliens.

Here's the deal: I'm bitter. Everyone else in Georgia got snow but this ONE little tiny town that I'm in GOT NOTHING! It's soooo unfair! I didn't get snow last year because I was living on the equator. Ok. Maybe not the equator but it was still too warm to snow. I know you people in snow land think, "what's the big deal?" but you have to understand... for a Georgia girl, snow is awesome. I only want a day of it... and I don't want to lose power or go through any weather related atrocities... but I wanted some dang snow pictures.

I finally sold a life policy today. The bad thing is that someone talked to these folks about life insurance last fall... nothing doing... I had talked to them several times over the last month and we even set a few appointments - they cancelled three times in a row and the last time their baby was in the hospital. I called on Friday to reschedule and didn't hear anything from them and then when I checked our schedules this morning they had an appointment with Duane! I was like... dang it! I worked too hard for this sale to just let it slip by. It's not the commission (ok, it's a little bit about the commission)... but it's also the fact that I spent a good bit of time explaining life insurance to the wife and helping her decide what they need. However... Duane had done the same thing with the husband. What sorta hacked me off was that the lady gave Duane the impression that she had called to schedule an appointment with him and I had intercepted the call and made it my appointment... which I would never do. Duane's a good guy, though, he had me sit in on the appointment (which was really helpful for me, he's a good salesman) and the lady *remembered* that I had called her about a problem with her car insurance and pivoted to offering life insurance. We thought we'd get two policies out of it but it turned out the lady was ineligible for the time being due to some health issues.

At any rate... I left work late after getting to work early this morning and I was just wiped out on the way home from work. I stopped at the little "meat and three" place where CnM and I went on our Friday the 13th date... and found out they have a DRIVE THRU! Hello! Drive thru! In my neck of the woods, that's golden! Their portions are so big that I ordered one meal to split between Austin and I and it was plenty.

I'm reading the book "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers and if you have not read it... buy it now, read it as soon as you can. You will not believe how powerful this work of fiction is... it totally demonstrates how a beautiful, Christlike romance is supposed to be. I'm not ashamed to admit that I have been reading it wistfully, thinking of the promise and hope I had when I met Michael... and the disappointment that relationship turned out to be.

I'm way behind on reading blogs... love y'all, sorry... I've been downright anti-social on blogger because I'm busy with facebook! Sorry, I go where the love is, know what I mean? I love interacting with folks...

There's probably a dozen other things I could tell you... maybe tomorrow... I want to finish my book!
Love and hugs, y'all!

updates

Since we are mostly in agreement that the whole blogger dashboard thing pales in comparison to the AOL Journal blogger updates we are used to receiving... is there anyone who would like an email notification of when I update this blog? Comment or email me. A few of my friends :waves to Jeanne and Jen: are doing this and I think it's a good way to keep people in the loop. Now... having said that... I sometimes blog four times a day... so you may want to just check in every day or so as time permits.

Also, my friend Amanda's church was struck by lightening and burned to the ground yesterday. Please keep Twin Oaks Baptist church in your prayers!

Love and hugs, y'all!

rainy Sunday with my Jamie girl...

Our Jamie-gurl has the flu. Mom was at the Doc-in-the-box with her for a good while last night. I went over around 5:30 and had dinner at the Sautee Trail Cafe with Jim and Sarabeth... Angie went ahead to the doctor with Jamester. Jim left to go to the Discipleship Now conference... and Sarabeth and I spent the night listening to CD's and dancing to things like "The Hokie Pokie" and "On Top of Spaghetti"... we had a buuuhlast! There are worst ways to spend a Saturday night than dancing like a crazy person to the Hokie Pokie!

Then we curled up to watch the Sound of Music. Sarabeth had so many questions... we ended up in this deep theological discussion about what nuns are... what does it mean to be Catholic.... what are we? (Baptist, for the most part)... how do they make the words on top of the picture in the opening credits... how did the film the picture from on top of the mountains?... what is film?... what was it like to live back in Austria in the time of the Sound of Music?... what happened to Maria?... did she go to Heaven when she died?.... (I think she died... let me fact check that...yes, she died in 1987)... are any of the children still alive?... (looks like all but one)... why did Liesl get excited that Rolph brought a telegram... and so on and so forth... it's funny, I don't remember being that inquisitive as a child... I just loved the music and the story... I think I'm still the same way... I don't ask a lot of questions, I just enjoy the ride.

Last night Angie got home exhausted. She spent the first part of the week at Callaway Gardens at a conference for work... then came home and immediately was thrust into moving back into their house, cleaning all the sheetrock dust (which covered EVERYTHING, even in the cabinets!) there was painting to be done, furniture to be moved back, all their belongings that they had at their temporary location to be put back, there were kids who came to clean that needed supervision... and then a trip to the doctor (45 minutes away). She was about to drop when she got home...

I headed home and was backing up the driveway in the dark (always a scary proposition for me!) and all of a sudden there was a girl standing beside my car. It freaked me out quite a bit... Jim and Angie live way back off the main road... about a half mile up a windy one lane dirt road... there is a rental cabin about five hundred yards away from them, totally secluded by trees.... so to see ANYONE... in the dark and rain at that time of night up close to their house... well, it would have freaked anyone out. She had a baby in a backpack... (which made me feel a bit safer) so I rolled down my window to see what she needed. She said they were staying at the rental cabin next door... she was hiking with her husband and some friends and they got lost. She followed what she thought was the way back to the cabin (she was right) but they went a different way and had not made it home. At this point it's about 9pm and very dark and raining. She was soaked, the baby was soaked. She was obviously scared. She asked if I had a cellphone ... I told her it didn't get good reception (the truth is that my little po-phone is just too expensive to use except when there are no other options!) and told her to follow me to the house.

Ok... here's the thing... yes, she could have been an axe murderer and I was leading her right into my brother's home. But... I think God gives us a spirit of discernment to know what is a risk and what wasn't. She had a baby (maybe a year old) in the rain and the cold. I wasn't able to just leave her out there. I explained to her as we went up the porch that it was my brother's house and I didn't have a key but that my sister in law had a phone she could use. She was young... maybe 21 or 22... Angie gave her a phone to use and she called her husband. He didn't answer immediately... we talked about what needed to happen and where he might have gone... and then he called back. She was able to guide him back by telling him what way she went, giving him landmarks. He made it back safely. She was very grateful for our help... and I was grateful she wasn't an axe murderer.

Again, man plans and God laughs. I had been looking forward to a very different day yesterday.... but I believe that God weaves all of our actions and choices together for His will and purpose (if we let Him). Not to take too much credit... but I can't help but wonder what might have happened if this young girl had not had access to a phone and had not been able to lead her husband back to the cabin? He had the keys... she couldn't get in... couldn't get to a phone... it's a long walk to the little country store down the way.... on a cold, dark, rainy night. What would have happened if Angie hadn't decided to take Jamie to the doctor and I hadn't come to babysit Sarabeth? The girl would have come walking up after dark and scared Angie to death! Certainly, you don't have many people wander up on foot around here... God is good. That's for certain.

Since Jamie has the flu she couldn't go to church. Angie plays the drums in our worship services and Jim sings and leads the youth group... and they just had this weekend Discipleship Now conference... he needed to be there to make sure everyone got back to their parents and so forth. It made more sense for Aunt Heather to babysit. Helen First Baptist can do without me a lot easier than it can do without Jim and Angie... so when Angie called on the way home from the doctor last night and said that she had already called our music director to let him know she wouldn't be at church in the morning... and she jokingly said, "You can't play the drums can you?" I said, "no... but I can babysit a sick little girl..." Angie apologized for about ten minutes and said she didn't mean to insinuate that I should offer and didn't want to make me feel like I had to offer and so on and so forth but really... I love to feel useful. I can't lead worship services but I can make sure they can. What a blessing it is for me to be close enough to pinch hit when needed! And what a blessing to be needed! I always had a backup parent with my mom and so why shouldn't Jim and Angie have a backup available for them?

I just hope I don't get the flu! Yikes! But by the time we knew what she had, I had already spent hours playing with her... too late to wory about it... I am letting her lay in her mama and daddy's bed and I'm hanging out in the living room. Close enough to hear every sneeze, but not close enough to be sneezed on... and we're practicing good handwashing techniques!

Jamie is playing with a calculator and calling it her computer. Bless her heart... she feels horrible. She started to cry when her mommy and daddy left for church... I had to hold her for a bit to make her feel better. And as soon as I reminded her that she gets to stay home today and watch Noggin... she was ALL better! My ear is bothering me a lot today... I would have been uncomfortable at church. I'm cozy and comfy all tucked in here... hoping the bad weather holds off until they get back from church and Austin and I get home safely.

Jamie needs me.... Hope you all have a great Sunday!

more stuff from Saturday

NOOOooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOo Rhianna!
That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Today didn't really turn out like i expected... back to that old saying that "Man plans and God laughs". I got to the office and the painter was there... the entire lobby covered with drop cloths... I went in and said, "ummm... did Duane not tell you that we open the office on Saturday?"... obviously not. That was sort of a stupid question on my part. The guy is super nice and offered to clear out... but the paint smell was so strong that I wouldn't have been able to hang anyways... I just told him if anyone stopped by, to offer our apologies for the confusion. It wasn't his fault. I had no idea he still had work to do. I'm sure Duane thought it would have already been done (Duane's been out of town for the past week). It just was one of those things.

I had already planned to have lunch with Angie and the girls so I called and asked if they were up (it was about 9am, they like to sleep in a bit on Saturdays when they can) and they were... so I took my McDonalds Fruit and Yogurt partfait and went over to hang out with the girls. Jim and Angie are back in their house but there is still a good bit of cleaning and painting and finishing work to be done. Angie's mom "Grammy" was there to pitch in. Jim had to head back to Discipleship Now. Angie needed to run get groceries and run a few errands... so I stayed and hung out with the girls, which was great fun for me! We played dolls and cleaned out the "dress up closet". My girls could open their own costume shop! We played "I spy" and jumped on the bed and practiced doing splits (I can still do one!) and just had great girl bonding time.

Sarabeth did NOT want me to leave. She blocked the door... begggggged me to stay... I told her I had to go clean my house... she said, "why can't you just live here?"... she is not usually clingy... but she has been pretty emotional lately with the damage to the house, being away from home for three weeks, mom being out of town for a few days and so on. When I kept the girls on Valentine's day she was a little teary when her parents left. I think she's just having trouble with transitions right now. She's a really sensitive girl... very introspective and quiet, like her dad. I was the social one, Jim was the quiet one. Jamie and Sarabeth are the same way.

Jamie is sick... still running fevers. At one point this morning she just curled up in my lap and wanted to be held. Grammy gave her some motrin before I left. When I checked in with Angie a few minutes ago Jamie was still running a fever. She's gonna take Jamie to the doc-in-the-box... tomorrow we're expecting bad weather (I hope!) and we don't want to have a sick baby and have to try to get her to the doctor then. Sarabeth is gonna hang with Aunt Heather while they go... and we're going to all do dinner together. It's a bit different from my plans for going to the concert... but I'm ok with it. I could just curl up in the nest and stay here until Monday!

The kids from Discipleship Now had some mission projects planned for today, it was part of the program, but they were outdoor plans... so one of the groups got to go to Jim and Angie's and help with the "disaster recovery". They finished up what we started upstairs. Sarabeth is like me... she loves a clean room but doesn't want to have to clean it herself.

We had sad news this morning... My grandmother's sweetie passed away last night. Jerry would have celebrated his 93rd birthday in two weeks... he and grandma have been an item for many years... he's like a part of the family. Grandma is 85... Jerry had been in a nursing home for the last little bit. She would go and spend every afternoon with him and stay until around 8pm. I know it's hard for her... sounds like the memorial service will be Friday. She lives "over the mountain" in Hayesville, NC. It's about 45 minutes from here.

I cracked open Austin's bedroom door with the thought of maybe cleaning it while he was gone. Then I had second thoughts... ugh.

I still need to make a run to the grocery store, but to be honest, I'm just not loving food right now. Anything good hurts to eat. Maybe this will jump start some weight loss for me...

ST3LBLTDKFKWC aka Stubby has been really possessive of me today. He squawks whenever I move.

I took a little nap this afternoon... woke up to talk to Dean... although I think we both were so tired that we mostly just grunted back and forth. He's taking a few days to collect his thoughts and plan his future. It looks like Andrea will have custody of the kids although I can't really *blog* about the terms and details. He knew this could happen. It still hurts, what can you do? He could use some love from the Blogger Babes.

Univ of Kentucky is playing LSU on tv... from Rupp Arena... so I'm watching basketball this afternoon.

It's been a relaxing day for me... I needed it.

May be more later... love and hugs!

only good stuff

I decided to challenge myself to write a WHOLE blog entry on things that make me happy... let's see how many I can come up with... these are in no specific order...

1. Playing dolls with Sarabeth and Jamie
2. Sarabeth blocking the door today because she didn't want me to leave
3. Singing the wake up song to Sarabeth this morning and being able to see her first smile of the day
4. Hearing Jamie say, "Time to get up, sister!"
5. Having breakfast with Sarabeth and Angie
6. My keurig coffee maker
7. McDonald's fruit and yogurt parfaits
8. My nest
9. Snow
10. the sunset behind the mountains
11. my country road commute
12. text messages
13. email
14. facebook
15. Beth Moore bible studies
16. my church - Helen First Baptist
17. Helen
18. town squares
19. karaoke with Purple Michael
20. showtunes
21. being catty with Candice
22. postcards from Robert Drake
23. quittin' time
24. pay day
25. commissions
26. the Great Commission
27. worship service at HFBC
28. Wednesday night dinner at HFBC
29. the Woodward kids
30. playing "I one it, I two it" with Sarabeth and Jamie
31. Austin's hot chocolate
32. new magazines
33. my laptop
34. my big tv
35. the air before a storm
36. the ocean (but not the beach)
37. venti iced green tea with splenda from Starbucks
38. fruit and cheese platter from Starbucks
39. having a picnic at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco with Jen
40. lunch dates
41. flying
42. Kristen Chenowith
43. Boston with Michael
44. Old Tyme Trolley Tours - anywhere
45. New York City!
46. New York City with Bryan and Candice!
47. being an aunt
48. being a mom
49. the Paris casino in Las Vegas
50. the Venetian casino in Las Vegas
51. air conditioning in Las Vegas
52. rest areas between Atlanta and Jacksonville (I know them well)
53. health insurance
54. the book of Isaiah
55. the book of Romans
56. Sunday School
57. Sunday night home group fellowship
58. my "young mothers bible study" on Wednesday night
59. roasted chick peas
60. roasted asparagus
61. my stepson Stephen when he's feeling sociable
62. taking Bobby to the library
63. Elijah saying, "I loooove you, Curious George!"
64. grilling with the Darby brothers
65. air conditioning in Jacksonville
66. text pictures from Whitney at Gators games
67. televised Gators games
68. University of Kentucky basketball
69. watching Jeopardy with Michael
70. our house in Woodstock - hands down, best house I've EVER lived in!
71. State Farm
72. closing a big sale
73. hugs
74. Jon and Kate Plus 8
75. Friends
76. Toddlers and Tiaras, Little Miss Perfect and other such shows
77. Ryan's blog
78. watching Cody play baseball
79. salmon at Longhorns
80. good Thai food
81. a clean house that I didn't have to clean
82. laughing so hard with Purple Michael that we fart...
83. Steel Magnolias, the movie and the phenomenon
84. being stubborn
85. Patsy Cline
86. Savannah
87. songs that bring back memories
88. singing along to the radio
89. not caring if I sing well or not
90. staying in touch with old friends
91. phone calls from Barry, Cory, Purple Michael, Matt, my BFF in Holly Springs
92. ambien
93. clothes that fit
94. finding socks that match
95. the capri sweat pants I stole from Angie that became my favorite Saturday outfit
96. my grumpy sweatshirt that Michael gave me
97. the Melting Pot
98. the library
99. the internet
100. Fox News
101. Rush Limbaugh
102. living in a place where they ask, "now, who are your people?" and having that actually make a difference
103. living in a place where who you know and who you're related to and where you go to church is your credit
104. hugs
105. comments on my blog (hint hint!)
106. voting
107. taking awesome pictures with my little digital camera
108. sharpies
109. birthdays
110. sterling silver rings
111. my grandma's quilt, bible and afghan
112. straight hair
113. barbies
114. Publix
115. Old Navy
116. thrift stores
117. naps
118. my bible that is falling apart... and the saying that a bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't...
119. My blogger babes/Mother Hens
120. Caleb's smile
121. tax refunds
122. the Olympics
123. people who are passionate about something - a favorite team, their profession, their faith, politics
124. bedtime
125. pillows
126. surprises (getting and giving!)
127. snail mail
128. peace
129. being alive

Ok... your turn... if you blog a "good stuff" entry, leave a comment so we can check it out!
love and happy hugs!

exhortation

4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[b]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12:4-8

I've been thinking about spiritual gifts lately. Spiritual gifts are the unique characteristics that each believer has which make them useful in the Body of Christ. I have always known that I had the gift of mercy.

Mercy / Compassion Mercy / Compassion (Serving Gift) - The special gift whereby the Spirit enables certain Christians to feel exceptional empathy and compassion for those who are suffering (physically, mentally, or emotionally) so as to feel genuine sympathy for their misery, speaking words of compassion, but more so caring for them with acts of love that help alleviate their distress. The divine enablement to cheerfully and practically help those who are suffering or are in need by putting compassion into action. People with this gift: - focus upon alleviating the sources of pain or discomfort in suffering people - address the needs of the lonely and forgotten - express love, grace, and dignity to those facing hardships and crisis - serve in difficult or unsightly circumstances and do so cheerfully - concern themselves with individual or social issues that oppress people.

Lately I've been thinking I also have the gift of exhortation. It's defined like this: The gift of exhortation is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the body of Christ to minister words of consolation, encouragement, comfort, and counsel to other members of the body in such a way that they feel helped and healed.

Exhortation Exhortation (Speaking Gift) - The special ability God gives some to help strengthen weak, faltering, and fainthearted Christians in such a way that they are motivated to be all God wants them to be. The ability to help others reach their full potential by means of encouraging, challenging, comforting, and guiding. The divine enablement to present truth so as to strengthen or urge to action those who are discouraged or wavering in their faith. People with this gift: - come to the side of those who are weak in spirit to strengthen them - challenge or confront others to trust and hope in the promises of God - urge others to action by applying Biblical truth - offers advise, an outline for a solution, or a program for progress - motivates others to grow.

Here's a link to a website that gives a lot of information on spiritual gifts: http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/refer.htm#Mercy

It also gives a spiritual gifts evaluation... which I haven't had time to take yet but will... http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/index.htm

The point is... we are all uniquely gifted and possess the ability to play an important role in the lives of those around us. I've had a lot of opportunity over the past few months to exercise my spiritual gifts. And sometimes I've done a good job and sometimes I've been too self-absorbed to do what I am uniquely gifted to do.

Yesterday was sort of a cross roads for me... it seems like every time I interact with Michael, it's like stepping on a scale and evaluating my progress. In the beginning I really missed him. I still miss him to some degree... but early on it was relearning habits that was difficult... and to unlearn certain habits, I had to remember things at the worst. I had plenty of experiences to draw from. And then... as Dean and I grew to be friends, I began to feel his pain on top of my own... which was, at times, overwhelming, but it was still what I had to do. Seeing the parallels in how Michael interacted with Andrea & how he changed her gave me immeasurable insight into the changes that happened in my life. Same game, essentially. So then I had to grieve the fact that I was NOT special... that even though I am the only woman to have gotten him to the altar, that I was played the same way he played women before me... and it looks like the way he's playing the woman after me.

My intention is to make this a positive post, so stay with me on this for a second. I had to go through that discovery process to get past an addiction. I had to realize how bad that addiction really was for me. I wish the pendulum didn't have to swing that far - cause I was some kind of mad! - but that's how I began to heal. Ultimately, hatred will never heal you. It's a cancer that destroys the host. Over time I have had glimpses of compassion for Michael. Over time I have come to be able to pray sincerely for his wellbeing and happiness and prosperity and success. Every day when I talk to God about Michael, I find myself being as uncomfortable as I was in the psych ward while telling Michael's mom why I had to leave Jacksonville. I'm telling Michael's creator what a creep he was to me... and eventually... God began to let me see Michael the way he sees him...

When I got on the scale yesterday... I didn't find the anger or bitterness that usually exists. I found myself sincerely desiring to say positive things, to give encouragement... yes, there are some wrongs that existed, grave, lifechanging wrongs... oh but for the grace of God I am not standing in front of someone else having wronged them in such a way myself. I am starting to understand/feel/acknowledge that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Honestly, I could have been exposed in the same way at some times in my life and only by Gods mercy, wasn't.

I wrote this in an email to Michael yesterday and I want to share it with you.... (these are just exerpts, I left out a lot of it)

Forgiveness is a process, not instantaneous. I wish it was. I work on it daily.... Forgiveness does not prevent consequences....Forgiveness is a gift I give myself. It is what I do because not forgiving you seperates me from the God I love and worship. Forgiveness is to set a prisoner free and to realize that all along, the prisoner was you. I need to practice forgiveness. I know that but for the grace of God, I would have been discovered in my past indiscretions as you were discovered. I made all the wrong choices in men and in relationships before I met you. One might argue that I continued to make a wrong choice when I met you! When I think of you, I no longer burn with anger or hurt... when I think of you, I see you as vulnerable and wounded. I understand that people who continue to reach for something better - different - more - new - people who are incapable of giving unconditional love are also unable to accept it. I'm sorry that your heart is wounded in that way. I pray every day that God will fill your life with joy, prosperity, success and love. Yes, love. I know that our roles in this dissolving relationship are that you were the unfaithful husband and I was the "headcase" of a wife. After much prayer, I see it differently. I hurt for you. I am sorry that as deeply as I loved you, you were not able to feel loved. It is a challenge to me now to make sure the people in my life understand how much I love them, to do a better job at making people feel loved. And there are so many people that I love... so many precious people in my life that would not be here if not for you. I wouldn't be here, if not for you. I am so grateful to have this life, to be in this place, to share moments with my girls. I longed to love them and to share their lives. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to stop by Sarabeth's school for lunch with her... to drop Jamie off at her Bible study class and get "just one more kiss"... to have a sister in Angie and all the other beautiful souls that are in my life now. The truth is that I am healed. I am whole. I am strong. I have moved on. I am happier than I have ever been in my life. I am scarred, no doubt about it. I just wish you could have shared THIS life with me. I wish you could know the joy that I know now... and that's not to challenge whether or not you're happy or content or successful, that's just to say that I feel so complete and I have compassion enough for you that I wish I could share this with you.

So what does this have to do with spiritual gifts? Well... like I said, Ive been thinking about exhortation. I know that I have this gift. I know that I need to work harder to use it better. I know that I am in a unique position to have hurt and then healed... I know that I have the ability to lead people toward healing. I want to do that. And in doing that... I need to make what I say here less about the whining and more about the winning...

Time to go to work. Have a great day! Love and hugs!

rambling about Friday

I've got about a dozen people that I really want to either talk to on the phone or email tonight and I'm running out of steam. Yes, I realize it's not even 10pm on a Friday night. I'm old. Accept it. I have. So if you expected to hear from me or have me visit your blog or respond to an email or a message and I didn't do it... forgive me. This does not mean you are not loved.

Stubby the 3legged butt licking toilet drinking kung fu kitty wondercat has become a growth on my leg. Austin is gone for the weekend and ST3BLTDKFKWC is not happy with the change. Not that he EVER wants to be with Austin, he cries - like a baby - really whines - whenever Austin carries him out of my room. But he is definitely not happy with the fact that the boy is not here.

Austin is at Discipleship Now... it's a weekend retreat of sorts for the teenagers from several churches in the area. They will have all these services and classes and so forth and then spend the night with a host family. Austin is staying with my friend Dana (aka my favorite blonde and Bailey's mom). I apologized to Dana in advance for the toilet seat being left up, the inevitable damage to her home, the fact that her couch cushions will never be the same again and the teenage boy funk that is certain to foul her home. I also told her that we have plenty of liability coverage. The kids stay at Discipleship Now until Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon we are expecting snow. I'm not holding my breath. Fool me once... shame on you... fool me twice... I'm done believing. This will be the time we get six inches and I'll be out of bread and milk. I'm pretty much living on cheerios and yogurt, though, so it's ok.

I think my brother is a glutton for punishment, being a youth pastor. Certainly he's paying in triplicate for all the stunts we pulled in our youth group. He was known as "The Toilet Paper Fairy". It was a lot of fun. One year for Christmas we rolled the mailboxes of EVERYONE in our youth group and left a candy cane and a card in the mailbox that said, "Merry Christmas from the toilet paper fairy". There were times that we did more than just the mailbox. It was good, clean fun. The best joke was calling someone in the morning and saying, "hey... I think you need to go flush your yard!". We didn't have caller ID back then.

Robert... haven't had time to respond to your last comment... but it was good! Love and hugs, still, again. Am I still on for next Friday night? You'll have to tell me what you need me to do. Remember... I'm rusty.

I think I've mentioned that I've taken to naming road kill around here. There is sooo much of it! I think because there's more... nature... around here... but you can't go half a mile without something dead. I always amuse myself with the names I come up with... "Flat Cat"... "Runny Bunny"... "Stiffy the Possum". The funniest road kill I've seen yet was this possum that apparently CRAWLED to the sidewalk (this was in town, mind you, we have some sidewalks, they get rolled up at dark, but we do have them)... the possum had crawled to the sidewalk and dramatically slumped over the curb... head resting on front paw... and died in that dramatic pose. Or. Well, if he was just playing possum... he gets the Oscar... it was hilarious. And just like the deer that we saw looking both ways before he crossed the road... I would have thought I was seeing things if Austin hadn't started laughing... "Did you see that?" Communing with nature can be fun.

There is so much I want to blog about... heard from Michael yesterday and today. Well, I wrote him first. Same story, same arguments, different day. Now I just roll my eyes and go... "yep. whatever". Strange how it stops bothering you after awhile. I mean... yes, I would love to have him say, "I screwed up.... you're amazing and wonderful and I'm an idiot for not realizing what I have..." but. Yeah. That won't happen. I would settle for an admission of guilt but I mostly get a generic "I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you". I always made my kids apologize by naming what they have done wrong and apologizing specifically for that. But. Oh well. Que sera. I don't know how many weeks it's been and I'm not going to count. Life is beautiful. I think I'll stick around a bit longer.

Next chapter.

Crunch and munch and I are still figuring out our new boundaries. It's interesting. (blows kisses) I'm talking to someone else... who is really nice... (and has never been married, thank you, trolls!) but we are JUST talking, lest anyone get up in arms and feel like comment bombing me again... and I got a pretty sweet message from Bear today. I texted him and said, "I'm not feeling the love" and he wrote back that there is lots of love. Mmmm. Ok. Just snuffalupagus kind of love. (Sesame Street reference for those who are not into preschool television).

I think I'm a bit caustic today. Must be emailing back and forth with Candice... my FABULOUS faux Sister-in-law. If she and Bryan ever break up, I'm keeping Candice. JKOC! Actually... I think if I don't start eating right she's going to disown me. It's one thing to have a sister in law that names road kill... but she can't be fat too!

I wore two completely different socks today. I may be carrying casual friday a bit too far. I did shave my legs today, though. It was just a rushed sort of morning. I'm working tomorrow too. I left a bunch of stuff unfinished today... having those few hours will be nice... and then I'm having lunch with Angie, her mama and the girls. Jim is at the Discipleship Now weekend all weekend, I think.

Tomorrow night I'm going to a concert at "the college". Since there is only one of everything around here... it becomes "the Ingles" and "the college" and "the walmart". Although, technically there are two colleges in my world... Truett McConnell and Piedmont. Not that it matters to anyone who lives outside of Butcher Holler. There are also three Ingles in my vicinity... in Cornelia, Clarkesville and Cleveland... tonight I stopped by the IGA to pick up snacks for Austin to take. I figured doritos are doritos, no matter where you buy them. I do enjoy the fact that they play contemporary Christian music at the IGA but it's still too small and dark for me. I'm really craving a good Publix run still. I want some of those great cinnamon twist things they have at the Publix bakery. (Robert, put that on my next wish list!)

Oh... but the concert... it's the group Rush of Fools. www.rushoffools.com Candice suggested that I request Freebird... (is that funny to anyone else but me and Candice?) ... I love the group, they play them all the time on the Christian radio station... which is about all I listen to because I love the inspirational stuff... I love to sing along...

It's really raining hard outside. I haven't even turned the tv on tonight so it's absolutely silent in this "house"... except for my stomach growling (because I haven't eaten) and my fingers clicking on the keyboard. Hope my little laptop keeps on chugging... soooo not ready to fix it. I should probably do my taxes soon. I don't expect to get much back, if anything, since I still have to file as married... *grrrr*.... which is total crap... I'm soooo not married!

Lots more good stuff... but I'm tired of typing and you're tired of reading. Love and hugs, y'all!

Oh yeah, one more thing! Dean! I love ya, man! Hang in there! God is good! Kiss the Deanie Babies for me... safe travels... God bless...