My LONG awaited for vacation began this morning at 3am. UGH! First stop: the beautiful Detroit Airport where we boarded the cheapest most uncomfortable airline in the world, Spirit. The seats did not even recline, and somehow I managed to sleep for two hours with my head bobbing to and fro! Next stop, Ft Lauderdale. With a 3 hour layover, I thought "Great, we'll get some exercise, breakfast, and find the bookstore for leisurely browsing!" My Bad! As I set out for our walk, attempting to get out of the multicultural crowd where we were a minority, I knew the first stop needed to be a restroom. There was one right there in all the congestion. However, there was a line, and the bathroom appeared small. No worries, I thought, there will be anotherone up the way. Chris had been successful with the mens room. We began walking again, for about 20 seconds, and came to a sign that said "do not go any further". Oh....we must've gone the wrong way. We turned around, through the crowd, a 30 second walk, the end of the airport. That's it? One hallway? One restroom? One magazine stand? No starbucks? A million people? Three hours!
You'll be happy to know that we survived. We bought coffee from a Maxine look-a-like
(hallmark cards) and sat and decided to talk with zero children interruptions.
Current status: our flight to St Thomas is being delayed!!!!
I have no business complaining about any of this! I know how lucky I am to be going to the sweetest place on earth. I'll only complain if we don't make it there!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The Gate!
I finally finished, and now it's too pretty in my opinion to hang crap on. Back to the old drawing board!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
We are Masterpieces - Wow!
Ok Readers of my blog, (all five of you) I know I am usually pretty darn funny . . . well, at least I crack myself up. Which is a good thing, really, because I rarely get lonely or have to go looking for fun. Anyway, I actually had something seriously beautiful happen this morning. I began to write about it in a journal so that I could possibly remember it in days, weeks, years to come. After my first sentence in my journal, I thought, "This is one for everyone." So here it is.
To give the background, last week, I was at Treeside (where I work) and was chatting in the garage with Renee, who was doing some yard work. Yes, I was just standing there watching her and NOT helping. I had a good excuse. Anyhow, suddenly I noticed an old and rotting wooden gate leaning against the wall. I pretty much screamed "Can I have that?" as quickly as I could get it out of my mouth. Renee quickly glanced to see what I was freaking about. She of course looked past the old, rotting, gate, because it was in the 'Take to the Garbage' pile. "The gate!" I said. "Yeah," she said. "Just text Jim and make sure it's OK."
I texted Jim, who was out in the middle of nowhere - shooting holes in his vehicle (another story here) but really trying to shoot a deer . . . anyway, Jim's exact response was (in text language) "u can hv the gate with my blessings!" I didn't realize what the blessing would be.
I was so excited, you'd have thought I'd won the lotto. I was literally calling a couple friends and raving about this old rotting gate I was now the proud owner of. I was even scared to express my excitement and plans to Renee, for fear that she would then see the value and want it back!
I picked up the gate, brought it home, and carried into my house immediately because if it settled into the garage, even for one day, I knew it might end up as one of those projects that never gets done.
After work last night, I had my mind set on painting the gate. Now, anyone who is a mom knows that it is risky to even try to have a plan for yourself, such as completing a project, while your kids are home. As soon as I walked into my home at 6:30 pm, my kids were hyped up about some pretend monster they had 'created' to mess with Jacob. They wanted to tell me all about it. In fact, they were following me all over, even the bathroom, b/c they were so darn excited. The monster? It is called a WangDoodle, it has stripes, it's habitat is the common home, and it feasts on Thanksgiving Dinners. Jordan had even drawn a picture and Julia was creating pretend messes (from the monster) and then cleaning it up. They were setting pretend bait . . . . anyway, I did the minimal mother duty and made sure that Jacob wasn't really and truly scared, and then continued to 'pretend' I was listening, but really began obsessing about painting my gate. Oh yeah, I also did the obligatory preparing of dinner, pancakes and sausage. But as soon as my last bite was taken - and yes, I was the first one done - I was setting up my paint.
The job went quickly, because I was going for rustic and weathered look, which the gate already had. I was just trying to add some artistic color. What took more time for me to deal with was Jacob, who was insisting on helping me. So I was trying to find a way to let him help and get it out of his system . . . all efforts failed. So Chris, my DH, kindly too him away and got him dirstracted.
My plan for the gate was to paint and decorate it with collection of unique hooks. Then I was going to put it in the hallway, where you would only see it if you went down the hall. You all know the problem: coats, backpacks, scarves, sweatshirts . . . all those things that end up on the floor all over the hallway, no matter what kind of organization system you have! I had always resisted putting hooks in my hallway, even down by the garage door and laundry room because then there would just be a bunch of crap decorating my hallway. But NOW, I thought this would at least be a classier way of hanging the crap. And if I got special hooks for each child, they might even WANT to hang their stuff.
So as my rotting-gate-now-artwork was coming together, I began to think it needed more of a special place to be displayed. I was more and more excited, even tried to call a friend over to see it - just like a new baby or something. So far, no one has seen it. But it's only been a day, I need to relax. Anyway, just for fun, I cleared some things out of the spot you first see when you enter my home, and I placed the gate there . . .Wow. Even Chris - who had rolled his eyes when I first mentioned the gate, which meant "here she goes again, collecting more garbage!" even Chris thought it looked pretty good there. He had previously thought putting it 'there' would look junky. Go figure. When I woke this morning, and came down the stairs, this being the first time I saw it in the morning light, IT LOOKED AWESOME!!!! I was so happy!
So I sat down to read my morning book, Jesus Calling, and it was about how God loves us more than we can imagine, regardless of our performance. It even said 'We are His Masterpieces' . . . a work created magnificantly.
I don't know about you readers, but I know that DAILY I fall short from being a perfect person. In fact, I am often really down on myself for some of the selfish decisions I make. But this was reminding me that NONE of that mattered when it comes to God's radiant love. The book said my responsibility was only to be receptive to His unconditional love, regardless of my feelings or behavior.
Of course my thought's went right to my new 'masterpiece' . . . it's new placement being in a spot where it is highlighted. And old-decaying-falling apart-rusty-garbage-bound-gate, NOW a masterpiece (in my opinion) displayed in the prime spot of my home. I thought about my excitement of 'finding' and 'claiming' and preparing, and valuing this gate. My desire to show others and share my joy!
And God was showing me He knows the feeling, Pride in His Masterpiece. Humbling.
PS: I will of course post the photo once I get it complete!
To give the background, last week, I was at Treeside (where I work) and was chatting in the garage with Renee, who was doing some yard work. Yes, I was just standing there watching her and NOT helping. I had a good excuse. Anyhow, suddenly I noticed an old and rotting wooden gate leaning against the wall. I pretty much screamed "Can I have that?" as quickly as I could get it out of my mouth. Renee quickly glanced to see what I was freaking about. She of course looked past the old, rotting, gate, because it was in the 'Take to the Garbage' pile. "The gate!" I said. "Yeah," she said. "Just text Jim and make sure it's OK."
I texted Jim, who was out in the middle of nowhere - shooting holes in his vehicle (another story here) but really trying to shoot a deer . . . anyway, Jim's exact response was (in text language) "u can hv the gate with my blessings!" I didn't realize what the blessing would be.
I was so excited, you'd have thought I'd won the lotto. I was literally calling a couple friends and raving about this old rotting gate I was now the proud owner of. I was even scared to express my excitement and plans to Renee, for fear that she would then see the value and want it back!
I picked up the gate, brought it home, and carried into my house immediately because if it settled into the garage, even for one day, I knew it might end up as one of those projects that never gets done.
After work last night, I had my mind set on painting the gate. Now, anyone who is a mom knows that it is risky to even try to have a plan for yourself, such as completing a project, while your kids are home. As soon as I walked into my home at 6:30 pm, my kids were hyped up about some pretend monster they had 'created' to mess with Jacob. They wanted to tell me all about it. In fact, they were following me all over, even the bathroom, b/c they were so darn excited. The monster? It is called a WangDoodle, it has stripes, it's habitat is the common home, and it feasts on Thanksgiving Dinners. Jordan had even drawn a picture and Julia was creating pretend messes (from the monster) and then cleaning it up. They were setting pretend bait . . . . anyway, I did the minimal mother duty and made sure that Jacob wasn't really and truly scared, and then continued to 'pretend' I was listening, but really began obsessing about painting my gate. Oh yeah, I also did the obligatory preparing of dinner, pancakes and sausage. But as soon as my last bite was taken - and yes, I was the first one done - I was setting up my paint.
The job went quickly, because I was going for rustic and weathered look, which the gate already had. I was just trying to add some artistic color. What took more time for me to deal with was Jacob, who was insisting on helping me. So I was trying to find a way to let him help and get it out of his system . . . all efforts failed. So Chris, my DH, kindly too him away and got him dirstracted.
My plan for the gate was to paint and decorate it with collection of unique hooks. Then I was going to put it in the hallway, where you would only see it if you went down the hall. You all know the problem: coats, backpacks, scarves, sweatshirts . . . all those things that end up on the floor all over the hallway, no matter what kind of organization system you have! I had always resisted putting hooks in my hallway, even down by the garage door and laundry room because then there would just be a bunch of crap decorating my hallway. But NOW, I thought this would at least be a classier way of hanging the crap. And if I got special hooks for each child, they might even WANT to hang their stuff.
So as my rotting-gate-now-artwork was coming together, I began to think it needed more of a special place to be displayed. I was more and more excited, even tried to call a friend over to see it - just like a new baby or something. So far, no one has seen it. But it's only been a day, I need to relax. Anyway, just for fun, I cleared some things out of the spot you first see when you enter my home, and I placed the gate there . . .Wow. Even Chris - who had rolled his eyes when I first mentioned the gate, which meant "here she goes again, collecting more garbage!" even Chris thought it looked pretty good there. He had previously thought putting it 'there' would look junky. Go figure. When I woke this morning, and came down the stairs, this being the first time I saw it in the morning light, IT LOOKED AWESOME!!!! I was so happy!
So I sat down to read my morning book, Jesus Calling, and it was about how God loves us more than we can imagine, regardless of our performance. It even said 'We are His Masterpieces' . . . a work created magnificantly.
I don't know about you readers, but I know that DAILY I fall short from being a perfect person. In fact, I am often really down on myself for some of the selfish decisions I make. But this was reminding me that NONE of that mattered when it comes to God's radiant love. The book said my responsibility was only to be receptive to His unconditional love, regardless of my feelings or behavior.
Of course my thought's went right to my new 'masterpiece' . . . it's new placement being in a spot where it is highlighted. And old-decaying-falling apart-rusty-garbage-bound-gate, NOW a masterpiece (in my opinion) displayed in the prime spot of my home. I thought about my excitement of 'finding' and 'claiming' and preparing, and valuing this gate. My desire to show others and share my joy!
And God was showing me He knows the feeling, Pride in His Masterpiece. Humbling.
PS: I will of course post the photo once I get it complete!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Unexpected Weather
Just like checking the weather report in the morning, I check the 'mood' of my son, Jake, who is 4. Unfortunately today, it was one of those 'weather reports' that you can't trust. It was just like looking out the window and seeing blue skies, sunshine . . . Jake woke up singing and smiling at 6:30. Then, he fell back asleep after coming into our bed. We snuggled - ie - enjoyed the weather report and planned for the sunny day! So I got up, began moving, smiling, making coffee, reading, and then I heard the thunder. It came from upstairs, in my room. It was more like a crack of lightening and thunder. It screamed, "I want Chocolate Milk!" "From Mommy!"
Uh Oh! Clouds are blowing in from nowhere! Where did these come from? It was blue skies a few minutes ago. Let's just wait out the storm, hopefully it will pass quickly.
"Hey Buddy! Are you just waking up?" I say in my sing-songy voice.
"I WANT CHOCOLATE MILK!" Jake says in his thunderous voice.
"Ok, can you ask nicely?" I say, in my sunshine-and-blue-sky voice.
"I WANT CHOCOLATE MILK!" He screams in his dark-cloud-no-chance-of-clouds-breaking voice.
"I'm not going to get it if you don't ask nicely," I say in my, Crap!-the-weather-man-is-wrong-again! voice.
Then, a tornado came through, and I can't tell you what happened because I lost my footing. But luckily, after that passed, the rest of the day was the calm after the storm.
Hopefully, tomorrow, regardless of the weather report, there are no tornados expected!
Uh Oh! Clouds are blowing in from nowhere! Where did these come from? It was blue skies a few minutes ago. Let's just wait out the storm, hopefully it will pass quickly.
"Hey Buddy! Are you just waking up?" I say in my sing-songy voice.
"I WANT CHOCOLATE MILK!" Jake says in his thunderous voice.
"Ok, can you ask nicely?" I say, in my sunshine-and-blue-sky voice.
"I WANT CHOCOLATE MILK!" He screams in his dark-cloud-no-chance-of-clouds-breaking voice.
"I'm not going to get it if you don't ask nicely," I say in my, Crap!-the-weather-man-is-wrong-again! voice.
Then, a tornado came through, and I can't tell you what happened because I lost my footing. But luckily, after that passed, the rest of the day was the calm after the storm.
Hopefully, tomorrow, regardless of the weather report, there are no tornados expected!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
My break ends, His begins!
If you could see me now, you see me slumped down in a chair by the train table at the library. Once again, it's another beautiful November day, but my boy wanted to come here to read books. What an intelligent and gifted child to beg to go to the library at age 4! Yeah, the truth is that he hasn't touched a book since we got here. Becuase his sole purpose was to play with the trains. My sole purpose was to slump in this chair as long as I could. He's actually yelling me he wants to leave, his 15 minute attention span is over. But I'm not leaving! It is quiet here. Since it so nice outside, I haven't seen one other patron here at all. Big yawn. I wonder what these librarians think of me sitting here (lying here really) oh well, if they are moms, they get it. I remember my mom taking me to the library all the time. To read. To write. To participate in library activities. I'm guessing her goal wasn't ever to get rest, but I could be wrong. Well, now he's more than ready to leave. Guess my break is over!
The photo? Jake-on the way home. Guess his break is just beginning!
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