Midnight Rider

I know it's an Alman Brothers song, but it was in my head as a title for this post. Bill and Sue went to New Zealand this past winter and brought back a stuffed kiwi bird for Gracie. I am kind of a freak show about washing stuffed animals. I feel like they get dog hair and dust on them, so I am forever doing a load of stuffed animals. WELL, the kiwi was in the last load I did. This particular kiwi is the kind that when you squeeze it it makes a heinous noise. Parents can empathize. Needless to say, I wasn't too concerned with "accidentally" subjecting the kiwi to the centrifuge that is my heavy duty cycle. After the spin cycle was complete I set out the animals to air dry....

MIDNIGHT that night Mark is awakened to the kiwi. It was short circuiting or something (?) and was repeatedly going off. I was unaffected by the drama and slept peaceful snuggle dreams bouncing upon stacks of freshly folded towels. Mark, in a delirious rage, went searching for the kiwi. It was inside the laundry room, and when he found it he smashed it.

This past week Sue came over and tried to get the kiwi to squawk. Sweet, sweet, silence. My fellow sisters in law will understand why I was apparently astonished at its malfunction. Hugh?? I can't understand what went wrong. Well, maybe he's just having a bad day. Sometimes they are like that. But it's our favorite isn't it Gracie?!

You can imagine my delight upon recovering a video of the kiwi in finer form. He equips us unto every good work, sisters.

Doots

I recently came across this picture of Gracie. It is amazing to me that she was actually once a baby! In so many ways it seems like ages ago, and at the same time I feel like it was yesterday. Anyways, I love this picture, and I hope you all enjoy the blast from the past.

The Puggle

Marta got a puggle. Her name is Lucy. She is a designer dog, by the way. :) I finally figured out how to post a video on my blog. Let the games begin, sistas.

Clean out storage

The most boring post of all time.

Today Mark and I cleaned the house. We purged our storage areas of:

- two ginormous TVs that even the Goodwill wouldn't take

- a remote control car

- an amp

- a workout bench that was evidently purchased in Germany over 15 years ago. The vinyl was ripped.

- 6 gallon size paint cans. I have re-painted so many times that they were no longer necessary to hold on to for touch ups

- a sega genesis

- a ancient of days tivo- we don't even have that perk

- cardboard boxes that once housed meat and seafood. Mark purchased from a traveling meat guy who wore fingernail polish

- a wooden seat that was going to be spray painted 2 years ago

- two random 6ft wood sticks

- a plastic drawer that went to a storage cubby

- a nasty air conditioning window unit that weighed a freaking ton


We stopped at Chipotle on the way home and I ate en entire burrito myself. Plus chips and guac.

I'm tired...

Mommy, you're going to be God's Son...

Gracie this morning says:

Gracie: Mommy, you're going to be God's Son!

Me:No, sweetie, Mommy is not God's Son.

Gracie: Then you are going to be Mary! Hey, Daddy- you are going to be Jesus! Hey, Daddy, I think kitty cats eat sand. Milo eats sand.

riiight....

Then I put on a Charlie Hall video of the song Mystery that we heard at Passion but hasn't come out yet. My worship pastor found it for me. Yes! Anyways, Gracie looks at the video of the Charlie concert and she says-

"Daddy, is that church?"

Is that cool or what?!

swim skirts

I purchased a swimsuit with a skirt. I am wondering if that is do-able for a 26year old mom. I want to be modest, but not matronly. Please be honest. Keep in mind that the brand is "La Blanca" and was originally priced at $60 per piece and I got the whole suit for $19.99. I need something to wear to baptisms and to the pool when I'm with Gracie and Oscar running after them. What say ye??

unthinkable

I am completely stunned by the current news about the Chapman family. How do you ever recover from such a tragedy? Such things remind us that this life is not final. Unthinkable...

prayer

If you think to pray for me...

I have been haunted recently about thoughts of writing a book. I know. Crazy.

Anyways, if you think of it, pray. I need help.

REALITY

Oscar peed on the rug in my powder room today. WHAT?! Yeah. I lifted him into the kitchen sink and rinsed him off (because the pee went everywhere) with the kitchen sink attachment hose thing. Nice. I then put his crocks, which were also peed on, into my dishwasher. Can you even stinkin' believe that?? Who does that? I couldn't pain cleaning them myself. I figured that the hot water and eco-friendly dishwasher soap would kill off any unwanted germs. Like ALL of them.

I brought my Bible to church on Sunday. A once anonymous blog reader actually COMMENTED in real life about my sounds like rain post. I was pleased. I was even more pleased when she left an actual COMMENT on my blog. I hope you have all noted my sorry attempts at generating more comments on my blog. If you have yet to vote, please do so asap. I can tell that most of yall are moody, so I understand. There should be a universal comment that means, "I read your blog, I don't have the emotional capital to comment, but I read it". I guess that is what site meters are for. They allow bloggers to feel prideful over the number of readers they have. You (singular) should know that I don't have one of those fancy meters.

I am obsessed with black beans.

I ran 3 miles today to the tune of "if you feel lost, if you feel lost, sing along". I am still amazed that I can run while listening to the melancholy Robbie Seay tunes. I imagine that I am in a movie and that is the sound track.

Speaking of songs, I sang the Brad Paisley "I'm still a guy" song this morning while making my latte. Illy irony, indeed. That is a great song. There is one part of the chorus that I loathe though. Can anyone guess which line it is?

My sister claims that Carrie Underwood wore a wig to the ACM awards show on Sunday night. That made me feel better. I started to read the LPM post "Somethings got me thinking", watched the show, and then returned to the post after the show. I was completely convicted over coveting the ability to get highlights daily. My sister said she doesn't like the bloated porcupine guy (Rascal Flatts). She should be convicted. I should be convicted for being critical. Did anyone catch the absurdity of Pickler's "You're beautiful the way you are" song?

That's all for now...

Get Out of that Pit

I contacted my MK consultant the other day about MK's new mineral makeup. Anyone?? My pores are crying out from behind the MK mask that is creme to powder beige 3!! They have been in bondage for years. Pit dwellers if you will. My attempts at freeing them has rendered me a slave to the Equate (that's the Walmart Brand, Mallory) apricot gravel face scrub. I clearly need to break free. I just don't know if I'm willing yet to commit to what victory will demand. I'm concerned, obviously, with the amount of coverage the minerals will provide.

Have you used the mineral makeup? If so, how would you rate the coverage? Be honest...

Strawberry Season!!

I never get over Virginia springs. This was the first of many trips to the berry patch.

Delight

In the past five years Mark and I have:

- earned our B.A.s
- got a dog
- had a baby
- bought a house
- planted a church
- suffered loss
- NOT TRAVELED JUST US

WELL. We are about to change that! The last trip we took just the two of us was our honeymoon! Take a look at where we are going to celebrate 5 FULL years.

It sounds like rain...

Mark and I were lamenting the lack of Bible toteage on Sundays to church. Somehow the LCD projector has lured our people away from lugging their leather bounds all the way to church on Sundays. I am not innocent. I suppose if I had a tote (other than the free Clinique give away variety) I liked, then I could manage: multiple snacks, juice cup, various lip glosses, phone, sunglasses, wallet, tissue, mints, random crap, AND the NIV Key word study Bible. But alas, our church, myself included leaches off the luminescent glow of the Digital Juice jumpback motion backgrounds instead of gripping the bread ourselves.

So this weekend's text is from Isaiah 55. Here it is:

10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.



If I sounded like Beth Moore I would whisper, "Thank you, Lord, Praise you Lord" as the congregation graciously flipped (and I could hear it) through the pages. I don't. But I love the sound just the same. There is something about the sound of a church flipping through their scriptures.

It sounds like rain.

I have resolved to bring my Bible this weekend. No magic. Just rain come down from Heaven hitting the hot, parched, pavement of my soul.

Thank you, Lord.

Bella Notte

I love me a chimanea.

i

I copied this idea from a random blog I read:

i am: eating a lime bar from Whole Foods
i think: i "need" some new Paige crop jeans
i know: how to play the piano
i want: to move into town
i have: totes full of Estee Lauder stuff from when I was a consultant
i wish: I didn't like cheese and icecream so much
i hate: poor customer service
i miss: being able to run in a swimsuit
i fear: tractor trailers on 64
i feel: deeply about most things
i hear: the sound of Mark on a nordic track every morning
i smell: the wood from my lime bar stick
i crave: high thread count sheets
i search: for clearance items anywhere
i wonder: what it would be like to be a famous country music singer
i regret: not sending cards for birthdays, Christmas, etc.
i love: my pit-pug mix Schotzie
i ache: for others to know God through His Word
i care: about the water crisis in Africa
i always: know when my roots are showing
i am not: intentionally rude
i believe: that God is better
i dance: at weddings
i sing: in empty model homes when there are fabulous acoustics
i don’t always: eat all natural foods
i fight: less than I used too
i write: crazily on many note pads- lines, scratches, traces, circles, etc.
i win: whenever Gracie immediately obeys
i lose: sunglasses
i never: sleep past 8:00 am
i confuse: celebrities and politicians and feel dumb about it
i listen: to sermon podcasts with Mark while making dinner
i can usually be found: sans makeup watering my plants in the morning
i am scared: of millipedes being on me
i need: laser skin resurfacing
i am happy about: Friday morning coffee dates with Mark
You?

re:invent

Campbell crazies is currently filling her script for Paxil. She shall return soon!! So sorry for the temporary craziness!