What A Week-End!

Wow- I am still tired from all the activities this week-end. It was fun, but exhausting. Friday night we took the girls to my parents to spend the night. Then we went out with some friends we had not seen in a while and we ended up talking for about 3 hours at the restaurant. Then we went and loaded up all the remaining yard sale stuff and took it to the Diva's house. Stuff ended up flying out of the back of our truck and I made Brian get out and get it- on a very busy road in the pitch dark. I was afraid it would cause damage on someone's car if they hit it. (It was a large item....) That was funny watching him do that. Anyway- we ended up staying at the Diva's until about 11:45 and we went home and went to bed at about 1 a.m.. We got up at 6 a.m. Sat. morning, and went to the yard sale. It was dark and foggy and misting. Eventually it lightened up and we got some traffic through there, but not much. It was disappointing, but I had fun. I made $150.00, so that should take care of some goodies in Charleston this week-end. After that, I packed up the stuff I wanted to keep for the kids consignment sale that I do twice a year and Brian and C went to Goodwill with the rest. We got home, took showers and packed up everything for my parents house- where we spent the rest of the week-end. Of course, being rushed and sleep-deprived, I forgot about half of the stuff, but- too bad. We watched the first half of the Clemson game at my parents and then took the girls to my friend J's for a Halloween party, which was great. They carved pumpkins and we ate and they played some games. I was able to go inside every now and then to see what the Clemson score was- and it was always good! Then we went back to my parents and put the girls to bed and watched the Carolina game with my Gamecock fan parents. Hah! That was the highlight of my night. Great game that was. We went to bed and I called the bed with Annelise because Emmaline usually kicks and flops around all night and throws her leg over you. However, she was actually very good in the bed with Brian, and Annelise was like sleeping with a donkey helicopter. I got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep. Sunday morning, we got up and went to church and went out to lunch. We put the girls down for naps and Brian and I went riding around and then we went back to church for the Trunk or Treat, which was great. Finally we arrived home and collapsed in bed and started a new week today. Needless to say, I have not unpacked any of the yard sale stuff I brought home, nor have I unpacked any of the stuff I took to my parents house. I did an emergency load of laundry last night and today I had to go on a field trip with Emmaline and then work this afternoon. I have not been to the grocery store in almost 2 weeks and my house is a disaster! But I am going to have to get to it , because I am leaving for Charleston on Friday and it has to be done before then! I took this Thursday afternoon off to allow myself some extra time to get things ready. I am really going to need to get away after all of this...... But, it was a good week-end and we did have a lot of fun.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Well, Brian got that tooth out last night when he got home from work. I made them go upstairs and do it, so I didn't see or hear anything. She came down the stairs with bloody gauze in her mouth and had her tooth in her hand, holding it up in the air like a trophy. She was so excited. Brian got out the camera and took pictures of her snaggletooth smile, and I interviewed her on video camera. I asked her what happened and she said "My tooth came out!" Then I said "Well, how do you feel about that?" And she got a little quiet and said "Bad." Then she started mumbling something and she started swaying and swooning and Brian went down to the floor to break her fall. She fainted away right there at the bottom of the stairs. She was so pasty- there was no color even to her lips. I was laughing at the sight of the two of them in the floor, Brian trying to get her to come to and her just laying there, eyes all aflutter. He carried her to her bed and I got her a cold washcloth and some juice. (Also the trashcan because she thought she was going to throw up...) When she started feeling a little better, she smiled and said "I take after Mommy!" Yep- she is going to have a tough time with all the teeth she has left to lose! She is already dreading the next one. She did perk up a bit this morning when she found that the Tooth Fairy had left her $5.00, a pack of gum and also a hand-written letter thanking her for her tooth. She loved that the letter was written in pink metallic pen and had fancy script. Looks like she did get something from me after all- but I wish it were something better than my ability to faint easily. (I could have been a wonderful Scarlett O'Hara.) Poor Emmaline never had a clue what was going on when Annelise went down. She was dancing around her and Brian yelling "Look at me! Look at me!" I am not so sure that she wants to lose any teeth after seeing all that last night. She screamed when Brian pulled Annelise's tooth. Glad that is going to be his job. Oh, well- at least that is over for now. We had a good prospect on land the other day, but it is not going to work out. I am not upset- that just means that particular property was not meant for us. I know the right one will come along. Until then - we will keep praying and looking. For now I hope tonight is less eventful at this house than last night.

Loose Tooth

Even though I am a nurse, there are still things that really gross me out. Fractures are one of them, stitches are another. Then the other big thing that makes me feel weak just thinking about it is loose teeth. Annelise has her first loose tooth. She is absolutely obsessed with it. She knows that it makes me want to faint and puke, so she shows it to me every chance she gets. I think it goes back to my own experiences with loose teeth as a child. I never could stand the sight of my own blood and as you know, when a tooth is pulled, it bleeds quite a bit. But I think the worst thing was the sound it made to have a tooth pulled. I remember my mom pulling my teeth when they were loose and she always grabbed it with a paper towel- well that in itself made the noise of the paper towel on my tooth, like a squeaking noise. Then when the tooth came out it made a ripping noise and I am about to throw up just typing about it. One time, when my parents were having a party in the kitchen, I hid under an end table in the den and pulled my own tooth to avoid the dreaded paper towel. I ended up fainting under the end table, (which had a tablecloth on it) and I have no idea how long I was out before I came to again. Even when I was in high school and became an assistant at a dental practice, I fainted every time a patient had a tooth pulled. I would be standing there with the suction wand in their mouth at one moment, and the next I was in the floor, seeing stars and blackness. Needless to say, I didn't last very long at that job. I can handle just about everything else. I have been pooped on , vomited on, suctioned snot out of throats and tracheas, pulled blood clots out of gun shot wounds in someone's leg, packed gauze into a leg wound with smelly decaying flesh all in it. But please don't ask me to be present for a tooth pulling. Of course, I know it is going to be any day that Annelise's tooth comes out. I told her she has to wait until her Daddy is home to do it. I don't care if it is hanging on by a thread. Otherwise my children will be here unsupervised while I am in the floor unconscious. I know I need to get used to it- because my future holds many more teeth to come out with 2 kids! If anyone knows a good therapist for this, let me know!

Things To Look Forward To

So many things coming up to look forward to.... I feel bad because none of them involve my children, but I always look forward to quality time with them, too. One is- we booked our cruise for next Summer! It was not on the Princess line, which we went on last time and loved, but we will see. It is going to be on the new Carnival Liberty ship. I am excited. I didn't even know where we were going until a couple of days ago because I told my husband I really didn't care- I just wanted to go! We are going to a couple of places we went on the last cruise- but I am okay staying on the ship if I don't want to go there again. We are going to the Turks/Caicos also, and I have never been there, so I will be getting off the boat to see that. I just look forward to the down time. I hope we will have begun building by then, so we will probably need to get away from that, too for a few days. Brian tends to become obsessed when we build a house and I know it will do him good to not be involved for a week. Our builder will probably appreciate it, too! Also, in 10 days, I am going to Charleston with 2 of my very good friends for the week-end. I am soo excited about that. Charleston always feels like my "home away from home." I can't wait to be there and just be able to do whatever I want! I have always wanted to walk through some of the old cemetaries and read the headstones and such. (I know, most people aren't interested in that.) I also just finished a book about one of the homes there- The Miles-Brewton House. I want to tour it since I have read a lot about the people who lived there and how they lived and what happened in the house. I am so enamoured with that era- the Southern Belles and the way they dressed and how they lived. I love the customs from back then- the "courting" , the manners that were demanded , the dinner parties and all of that. I am always so content when I am in Charleston- so I am really looking forward to it. We are also going on a new ghost tour there that takes you through a cemetary at night. I have done the other ghost tours like 100 times, so maybe I will hear some new stories on this one. Even if you aren't interested in ghost stuff, you learn a lot of history about the city on those tours. My friend "the Diva" wants to go somewhere and sing karaoke one night. My other friend and I will have a lot of fun watching her do that. I won't do it anymore since the time I did it on the last cruise. (Another story for another time...) Anyway- I figure it will be a good time to think about things and clear my mind a little, too. We may just go sit on the beach one day and watch the sun set or something. It should be a relaxing time. We won the trip in a game of Mexican Train Dominoes- so all of our husbands are pouting about us being gone, but that is too bad! (They won a fishing trip in another game , so I am sure they will redeem that soon.) Anyway- I hope everyone else has something great to look forward to in the next few months. (I know that 2 of you do!) It's something that will get me through the "rough days".

Soccer Season is Done (For Now)

Well, Soccer is over- thank goodness. I enjoyed going and watching Annelise play and she had such a good time and learned a lot, but I will be glad to have my Tuesday nights back and be able to eat dinner as a family again on those nights. Her team had their pizza party last night and she got her trophy- you would have thought it was made of real gold as excited as she was about it. We are going to let her play in the Spring and Fall next year. Now we have to find somewhere for Emmaline to play basketball. That will be a challenge since she is only 4. But she is really wanting to play. I think that is going to make for some interesting entertainment, considering her temper. I pity the fool who succeeds in taking the ball away from her. This week-end was great, I must say. I went shopping on Saturday and then came home (to an empty house!) and watched football all alone until one in the morning. Aunt Libby had the girls all day and night on Saturday, and Brian was at the BMW plant, racing all kinds of BMWs around the track as fast as he wanted. I talked to him a few times and he sounded like he was on crack he was so excited. He came home after dinner and didn't feel well, so he went to bed and I stayed on the couch and watched football. It was a great day (it also helped that Carolina got taken down by an un-ranked team and that Clemson blew Cent. Michigan away...) I was not overly impressed with Clemson's performance Saturday (points mean nothing to me), but I'll take it. This week, I am going on a field trip to the Apple Orchard with Emmaline and then on Saturday, I am having a yard sale, and going to a halloween party for the girls that evening. (I am going to try to squeeze in watching the Clemson game at 3:30 and then catch the Carolina game at 7:45- thank goodness for TIVO!) Sunday we are going to church and then we will probably hang out at my parents or my aunt's house all day because we are going back to church Sunday night for Trunk or Treat- which is always great for the kids. So, until this week-end we are coasting with not much going on. I am sure that will change. I hope to go to the gym tonight. I guess we will see how things go with Brian and the girls before I plan that. Still no prospects on land, but it hasn't been that long since we started looking. I am not worried about that. Oh- the picture up top is of Annelise scoring a goal. I thought that would be a good tribute to her soccer season. Maybe she will be the next Mia Hamm.

What's Your But?

Now that I have your attention.... I was watching a TV show the other night and the group of friends on the show was discussing how they would describe each other for a potential date. They all had a "but". For instance, "He's really good-looking but he's afraid of commitment." I wondered what my "but" would be. I figured it would be .."but she's an ice queen." Or maybe ..."but don't make her mad because she has a terrible temper." I would have a lot of potential buts. What would your but be? (Anyone can post an answer- I'd love to hear what you all think about yourselves compared to what I would say about you!) You have to imagine that you are back on the dating scene to answer this one. I know it has been a while for some of us! I usually don't ask group questions on my blog, but I thought this one was funny. Plus it has been a pretty non-eventful 2 days and I figured this would be more interesting. All I have done today is clean and play go-fish with Emmaline. Yesterday I went to a short play that Annelise was in at school and went to Barnes and Noble afterwards to take up time before it was time to go get the girls at school. That's about it. So- I wanted to ask something fun and maybe learn some new things about some of you! What is your "but"?

Another Busy Week

This week looks like it will be another one of those "hurricane" ones where we don't know if we're coming or going. I'm not complaining- things are going great- just a lot going on right now. The discipleship study we are doing at church is really grounding for us. I have been in such a good mood for the past few weeks. My niece celebrated her first birthday this past week-end and that was fun- especially for the kids. They painted pumpkins at the party, had a hayride and we all ate caramel apples. Plus- the girls were so exhausted they were asleep by 7:15 last night! (And we had to wake them up at 7 a.m. this morning.) Besides Emmaline throwing an absolute fit this morning because she had to dress like a pirate for school it has been a great beginning to the week. I got on the scales for the first time in weeks and saw that I have lost 8 pounds so far. (Going back to the gym tonight to make sure those pounds stay gone...) Today, one of the docs in the office is out, so Brian will probably work late. Then tommorrow night we have A's soccer game. Then Wed. and Thurs. nights are - so far- without plans, but I know that will change. Friday the girls are out of school and Brian is usually off on Fridays, but this one he has to work- so I got a sitter to come because I have to go to parent-teacher conferences that day. Friday night we have the last soccer game. Sat. Brian will be at the BMW center getting to drive all kinds of cars around a race-track all day and into the night. The girls are going to spend the night with Aunt Libby one night this week-end. Then Sunday morning we will go to church and Sun. night there is a pizza party for A's soccer team to celebrate the end of the season. Then we are back to Monday! If the girls spend the night with Aunt Libby Friday night, I am going to the outlets Saturday with my aunt and possibly my sister. (Even though I really don't need anything....) Sometime this week I have to go to the office and get the rest of the yard sale stuff out of the attic there. Somehow it will all get done! Hey- at least I never have to worry about being bored!

Refreshment

This has been a pretty good week, so far. I have felt really good since we went to church last Sunday. It has been a while since I have been able to associate peace with church, but I can this week. I am starting to feel refreshed spiritually and it feels good. I even spent time in the Bible 3 times already this week and even though that is not what some would consider a lot, it is a tremendous jump for me. It is just nice to feel like I am on a good path again. We started a 6-week study on discipleship in Sunday School last week and I am getting into that and am already looking forward to Sunday morning. Still nothing on the land front. I have decided that God will just put something in front of us. We asked Him to guide us- now we are really going to let Him. I think it will just be something that falls in our lap. We need it to be obvious! We aren't even looking that much lately. I know God will work it out. That is such a load off of us. Sometimes I just forget how awesome He really is. I can't figure out for the life of me why He is so good to us. We certainly don't deserve it. As for other good things - I got a lot of stuff cleaned out and/or put up this week. The school that the girls go to got the Blue Ribbon Award this week- which is awesome. They were the only private school in the state to get it this year. The new roof is on the house and it looks really good. I can't wait to see what the house looks like when it is all done. (Then we are going to sell it! We are truly crazy.) We made an appointment to have the siding done, so they will let us know about that soon. Annelise's teacher had really great things to say about her. She thinks she will be some kind of scientist. She had to dress up in 1970's style for school today- it was adorable. I'll post a picture soon. She told everybody that her new name is "Moonbeam." Emmaline has been perfect the past few days and has allowed me to get a lot done. Overall- I definitely can't complain about anything right now. Clemson has an off week, so the week-end should go well! Goodness knows they need to rest and practice after the last couple of performances!! Oh, well- looking forward to seeing how all of this turns out.

My "Other" Babies

So these are my other babies. The calico is the youngest- her name is Annabelle Gertrude. We found her outside under a slab of stone beside our driveway when she was about 5 weeks old. Brian thought she was a tree frog because she was hoarse from meowing so much. She was dirty and starved and flea-ridden, but she was the cutest thing ever. We tried to give her away, but couldn't find a home for her. I am so glad because she is my little buddy. She sleeps right beside me every night and she waits under the shower curtain every morning for me to get out. The one on the dresser is Willard Scottish the Third- better known as Willie. He is cross-eyed. We got him and his brother (Clyde) at the humane society when they were kittens. He was so ugly. Scrawny and screamed a lot and cross-eyed. But he is the sweetest one and the one in charge. He is the one who sits by you when you're sick and worries when he can't find the other cats. He prefers me to Brian and he is Annelise's cat. The one who is sideways (can't figure out how to rotate him) is Clydeford Theodore the Third- better known as Clyde. He is the skiddish one- scared of his own shadow and likes to suck on people's fingers and lick their hair. Very sweet and likes to be loved on. He is Emmaline's cat and when we open her door to get her up in the mornings he goes right in and gets on her pillow next to her and purrs. He is definately Brian's buddy. He likes to sleep on Brian's head at night and sit in his lap when we watch TV. They are such good and tolerant cats. They go to the lake with us and Willie always screams the entire way there and back. We just love these little guys and they are a big part of our family!

Take the Good With the Bad

Well- football certainly was not what I was hoping for this week-end. Clemson didn't even really show up to play against Va Tech (I love them anyway...) and Carolina is now #7. We haven't gotten any good potential leads for land, but we have plenty of time for that, so that is okay. But- Brian and I did get the garage cleaned out and we can actually park 2 whole cars in it. (I know- those who know me will have to see it to believe it.) That was no small accomplishment. We also went to the church we want to attend. (The one that is a little far away.) It was great. The Sunday School class we are in started a 6-week video and discussion study on discipleship this Sunday and it is going to be really good. We have decided to start attending there, even though we can really only go on Sunday mornings right now- until we get moved a little closer or until school is out. They just voted last Sunday to take out a $650,000 line of credit to pay off the children's building they just completed construction on. (Total cost was $1.2 million- but they have already raised the rest of the money.) The vote passed by 99%. To some people, that may not be a big deal, but to me that is incredible. That would have never passed even by 50% at the church we used to go to. It comes down to having faith that God will provide. The preacher's sermon was awesome, too. He talked about when God challenges us to do something it is not really a challenge because He is going to take care of everything and we just have to be willing to step out on faith and do our parts. That is so true. There have been times when God has called me to do something and I have thought- 'I can't do that- there is no way.' Then I would always discover that He took care of all the tough stuff and brought me through it and all I really had to do the whole time was trust Him and be willing. The church only has about 400 active members, but they had 90 children at AWANAs this past Wednesday. They didn't even have enough workers to do everything. That is just amazing. My girls love it there, too. It has been really hard to let go of the other church we attended and to have to get over losing our "second family" that we had there. But God is opening some awesome doors for us and we are able to look forward now instead of looking back. I am so excited to see what the future holds. We met with our real estate agent and our builder (they are husband and wife) last night and they loved the house we want to build and they are keeping their eyes open for property out there for us. I know the right thing will come along at the right time. We wouldn't even be able to close on anything until January, anyway. This house will be getting a new roof next week and that will be the first step in the exterior renovation. It is going to look really good when we are done with it. It will be a great home for somebody! This time next year I hope we will be in full swing with building our next ( and hopefully final) home. I can't even imagine what that will feel like, but I am excited!

Lots to Do....

Just came back from Annelise's soccer game. She scored 2 goals and she was on cloud nine about it. She actually passed up the snack that one of the parents brought tonight because it was a "granilla" bar and she didn't want that. (You know if she passes up food it has got to be something she doesn't like!) She is really improving. Had a good day with Emmaline. She played quietly with her beloved Aqua Dots all morning while Annelise was at school and I cleaned some of their clothes out and separated and put away this and that. There is no way Emmaline will ever wear all of her winter clothes. I bought her some and then forgot how much I had saved from Annelise. It is ridiculous! Anyway- Brian is off work for the next 3 days and we have got a little "agenda" for that time. (Anyone who knows me knows that I have a plan for every day- now it hardly ever goes the way I plan, but I always have one anyway!) We are going to look at lots/land tommorrow and Friday because Emmaline will be at school those days with Annelise. We are looking in such a large area that we will never cover it all. On Thursday, we are going to start cleaning out the garage. Now, those who have seen the garage know that this is a task of monumental proportions. Notice I said start cleaning it out. It will take forever to finish it. However, I am going to be doing a yard sale with a friend in a few weeks and I want to get all of that stuff in boxes before then. I am in the mood to get rid of stuff, so I am trying to take advantage of that before it wears off! On the upside, my parents want the girls to spend the night at their new house this Friday night- so we will have a chance to have an adult only dinner. We will pick them up on Saturday and then we have a birthday party to go to. Saturday night is going to be reserved for football. Clemson plays at 6 and hopefully Carolina will begin getting their hineys whipped at 7:30. Sunday morning, we are going to the church that my parents attend (the one we really want to go to.) Then, Sunday night we are going out with our real estate agent and her husband to draw up the contract for the pasture sale. Then we will go home and get ready for Monday again!! Such is life. I really hope to get a good bit done in those few days, though. I know if I don't get rid of some things that will be more that I have to move later!

Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do

A few months ago I confronted a man at the church we went to about some things he was doing. He was pretty much destroying the church and intentionally working against our pastor and my search committee. I was a direct recipient of his actions a lot of the time and I just got tired of watching him do these things with nothing being said or done to stop him. My husband and I asked some of the men in the church to speak to him about what he was doing- they said they would but never did. Well, I just got tired of it and the Bible says you need to confront people when you are offended by them. I did confront him with a letter. (This is after a couple other people called him and asked him nicely to stop doing what he was doing and he did not.) Now- I will admit that I was not "loving" in my letter. He had put me and my family through a lot and I was at the end of my rope. I wouldn't say I was hateful- more like blatantly honest. Nothing I said to him was untrue. Well, he sent copies of my letter to about 1/2 the church (mostly people who thought he could do no wrong) and said he had to leave because of me. Then half the church thought of me as the devil and since no-one in leadership decided to address this, that remains my reputation there. Even people who knew what he had been doing criticized me for not being more loving in my approach. ( Well, all kinds of those people had the chance to handle this themselves and didn't- I may not have done it right, but at least I did it.) I am over it, but the reason I felt like writing about it is because I had somewhat of a "revelation" about it all this week. I was listening to the radio and the song "The Voice of Truth" came on. It was talking about how we should all have the faith that David had to face the giant, Goliath. Well, then I thought- David didn't go to Goliath in love. He knew Goliath was a threat to him and his people and he went out there and nailed him in the forehead with a slingshot and killed him. Why was that okay? For me it told me that God doesn't always send people in love. Sometimes He just sends them to get a job done. I am sure that Goliath knew that what he was doing was wrong, just like the man I confronted. This man had already been spoken to in love- it did not phase him. So, then what? I am not saying that I shouldn't have been a little nicer, but I don't question my actions quite as much as I did before. In fact, even though this man left the church I went to, he is still to this day calling people who still go there and telling them they should leave. He is also still spreading lies about my husband and me to whomever will listen. It is a real good thing that I don't let other people determine my character. I have gotten hate mail and other stuff mailed to me, but I know that God and I are straight on things and that is all that matters. I have given forgiveness where it is due and I have asked for it where I needed it. But I can't help but think that God does not always send people in love. There comes a time when if love is not working, you just have to do what needs to be done. Not everyone will agree with this I know- these are my thoughts and I am allowed to have them. But it was just a thought that I wanted to share and maybe cause some people to look at things a little differently. I hope I never feel compelled to do something like that again. It was not something I enjoyed- but I still think it was something that needed to be done. Oh, well- other than that- we are still looking for a church. I would love to go to the church we got married at but it is a bit too far, so we are getting discouraged. I know we will know what to do in time. That patience factor, once again, is pushing me to the limit. Sometimes I wish I could see where we will be in a year-where we will live, go to church, etc. But God knows and I can take comfort in that. Until then, I will wait- I am getting good at that.