I'm Back, Thank Goodness....

So, we went to the lake over the week-end and I thought it would be fun to stay there with the girls for a few extra days and let hubby come back and get us after work last night. That won't be happening again any time soon. I don't know what it was, but the girls were really clingy and wouldn't allow me to have a minutes peace. They went to bed really late and got up really early- which is very abnormal lake behavior for them. And they argued- a lot. So- maybe we will try that again next year. My sister has invited me and the girls to Charleston with her for a few days next week and I am still thinking on that one. It depends on whether or not I am over this traumatic experience, yet. The sweet angels are napping right now and I am about to do the same. I am pooped. The girls did decide what they wanted to be when they grow up while we were at the lake, though. Annelise wants to be a : karate girl, doctor, scientist, archaeologist, flute-player and bird-feather finder. Emmaline wants to be a : dentist, ballerina, violin-player, and dead-bird finder. So, the trip was not a total loss. Now I am just thinking how much fun it could be to have 2 kids in medical school at the same time...... Long way off, though. Oh, well- got to catch up on some cleaning and laundry that didn't get done while I was gone. ( I told the magic fairies -that my husband evidently believes come and do all the housework -that I was going to be gone, but they must have forgotten. ) Such is life. Our neighbors did agree to buy the 4-acre piece of land we have for a pretty penny, so that is a really good thing. We just have to figure out tax mess and stuff now. That is for hubby to worry about, though. One property down, 2 to go!!

Goin' To the Lake! (Again)

Well, we are leaving for the lake today and I am so glad! We just spent a whole week there last week, but it never seems to be enough time when we are there. I would love to live there but I told my husband that I would never live anywhere that was so far out you couldn't get pizza delivery. It takes almost an hour just to get to the grocery store. And when you get to the store it is like you are in Mayberry. Time stopped there about 50 years ago. The cashiers all know the customers who come in by name. There are no chain stores except for a Maxway. It's neat to visit the little town but if I had to live there I would be in the mental hospital before long. I think I would die of boredom. I am looking forward to going to the lake. It only takes 5 minutes to vaccuum the whole trailor and when you clean the kitchen you really can stand in one place and wipe down the whole counter. So what if the trailor is about to slide down the hill into the lake because it is old and the land is washing away underneath? I get to have my coffee every morning on the deck and look at the lake and usually there are no boats at that time and my husband keeps the girls inside. Plus- we are going to re-build the place in a couple years, so hopefully it will stay put until then. For now we will just deal with showering while standing at a 90 degree angle and hope that the tub doesn't fall through. The ride there and back is always the worst part, though. Willie (one of our 3 cats) screams the whole time and the girls usually argue and the 2 hour drive feels like about 5. (Keep in mind- 2 kids and 3 cats and a lizard in the car.) But it is all worth it. We are lucky to have it and we know that. It is cheaper than intense therapy, so we will continue to go when we can! Hope everyone else has a great week-end, too!

Fingerprints

Last night, I was looking through a book called "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff." It was right beside the couch and a commercial was on, so I picked it up and started to thumb through it. It was actually a really good little book and has some great advice in it. There was a chapter that particularly spoke to me called "Remember that Everything Has God's Fingerprints On It." It talked about how it is easy to find holiness in the beautiful things, like sunrises and the ocean and mountains and babies. But it asked if we could learn to find the holiness in the ugly circumstances and difficult life lessons and tragedies. It stated that when we remember that everything has God's fingerprints on it, that alone makes it special. It said to remember that God created even that difficult person you have to deal with or even that in tough situations you are still blessed in many ways. When we have the desire to find God in everything, it brings peace and we start to see things in a different light and we start to notice things that maybe we didn't before. Just because we don't see the beauty in something doesn't mean it is not there- it just means that we are not looking carefully enough or with a broad enough perspective to see it. I needed to read that and especially now. I have always believed that there was a reason for everything and this just helped to foster that belief. We got a letter today from our neighbors telling us for the hundredth time that they want to buy our 4 acre pasture. The difference between this time and the others is that this time we are probably going to sell it to them. But- it will be for the price we set. We will see how that works out. We lost the contract on our house that we need to sell. But, I think it will help us in the long run because now people who want to see it won't think it is not available because of the "under contract" label. Our website for it has been hopping, so I pray that it will sell really soon. God is in the details and He already knows what is going to happen, so I trust Him with that. He has not let us suffer because of that house and we have learned patience. You never know, maybe it will sell really soon......

Cough Syrup Nightmare

Yesterday was 4th of July and a few of our friends came over and we all ate together and had a lot of fun. The kids played in some blow-up pools and had a blast. They were so tired when it was time to go to bed last night. Emmaline has had a cough and some stuffy nose when she gets up the past few mornings, so I told Brian to give her some cough med before bed last night. Not only did she still wake up coughing and stuffy, apparantly she has had a reaction to it that causes her to act like Satan on crystal meth. Boy, I don't know how long this medicine stays in the system, but it is about 4 pm and she is still going strong with the crazy. Brian took the afternoon off, so he got to come home at lunch and spend all afternoon with her. Hah-hah. Of course, I forgot to tell him that she was having some lunatic reaction to the medicine, so when we went to lunch, I asked if she could ride with him. (We had to drop my car off for oil change.) He happily put her in his truck and we all left to go to the restaurant. When we got out, he didn't look so happy anymore. He wanted to know if she had "been acting like this all day?" I was too busy laughing to answer him. Needless to say, she won't be getting that medicine anymore unless we have a Catholic priest on hand to do the exorcism afterwards.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is the practice's 7th anniversary! Brian has worked hard to get it where it is and God has blessed it in tremendous ways. I remember when he got up to 75 patients, he took all 3 office staff out to lunch. Now he has 14 staff and 5ooo patients. All of the staff got $57.00 gift cards to Target today and a lunch from the Olive Garden. I am very thankful for the 7 years it has been here. We had to go to 5 different banks before one would lend us the money to open it and I had to be the nurse for free for a while until we could afford to hire someone. I even came and worked a couple times after working all night at the hospital! But it has all been worth it. He loves what he does and it shows. He has some of the best patients and families ever and some of them read this blog- so to you I say "Thanks for helping with the girls college funds!" My parents are taking the girls for tonight, so Brian and I are going to go out to eat and then I will be going to Girls Night In at M's house - unless we hear from some friends we invited out with us- then we will be spending time with them. (They usually cancel, so we will see.) I would prefer to go to Girls Night In. M is doing her study on "Praising God in the Difficult Times." I really need to hear that after everything that has happened. Well- Happy Anniversary to EP!

Clutter Monster

Well, the wedding went fine- I think I was allergic to the carnation corsage they put on me about 1 hour before I had to sing, because about 15 mins after it was placed on my shirt, my throat got cloggy and my voice was almost hoarse. But, I got the song out and the wedding was sweet. The couple is a really adorable pair and the husband is going into ministry. I couldn't help but think ,as I watched them stare into each other's eyes adoringly, that some day he is going to be passing gas on her and they will be trying to find "alone time"... ahh when the magic is gone. But- the good part of marriage comes when you can be yourself, and they love you anyway. On another topic- people who know me know that I have a tendency to be a packrat. I admit it. One would think that I grew up in the depression because I hang on to everything "just in case" I might need it in 10 or 15 years. (You know, legwarmers may come back!) Unfortunately my husband is the same way. And- when we moved, we lost 2000 square feet of house. We have a lot in the garage.... (None of which is a car.) Well- husband got a new motorized "toy" that has a soft-top convertible and needs to be in the garage. I stacked some stuff to where he could get the car in, but really you couldn't get out of the car. So- he has taken it upon himself to actually clean it out. Well- so far, it looks worse than it did. It looks like all of our junk had babies while we slept. He is throwing away stuff and I am taking it out of the trash when he isn't looking. (Of course, he only throws away my stuff.) At least we know we will be moving- but we still need to get rid of a lot of this stuff. I need to find a support group. The worst thing is, he is just putting stuff inside the door for me to put up in the house- well why does he think it was in the garage in the first place? If there was room in the house, I would have put it in there to begin with! It is a never-ending battle... I need someone to just come clean it out while I am not here and I would not even know what was thrown out. Any volunteers?