Home Again Home Again

We had a wonderful time seeing my family. I will blog all about it tomorrow ... or perhaps the day after. :) Tonight we are tahrd (say it out loud and you'll hear yourself speaking with a Kentucky accent) and looking forward to sleeping in our own bed after four nights of hotels and air mattresses. It was totally worth it though! I'm so thankful that God allowed us to go.

Happy Thanksgiving, People!

This year I am thankful for:
-My salvation. It is forever beyond my ability to comprehend why God would send His precious Son to die for me. I am so grateful.
-God's Word. I don't know where I would be without this Book to comfort me and give me answers.
-My husband. He is God's gift to me, my completer, my companion, the only man for me! He makes it very clear on a daily basis that he loves me ... I don't deserve him but I'm thankful for him.
-Our daughter. She is God's gift to us, our sweet little girl. Her smile and laughter and happy voice bring me joy every day.
-Our families. We both have wonderful families. I never want to take that for granted. It is so awesome to live close and see the Boogie growing up with her cousins.
-Our health.
-Our home.
-Our church. Fundamental in Bible teaching and preaching. Truth is taught, whether it's popular or not. Missions are supported, financially and prayerfully. Music is worshipful and honoring to the Lord. Every part of the family is ministered to. People are friendly!
-Our jobs (soon to be just one job!) DH is paid a good wage and has plenty of work. He enjoys what he does, which I think is very important. My boss has been incredibly good to me. Today is my last day and I am sad and happy at the same time.
-My friends. You know who you are! Many of us have been friends for years and years. We've had good times, shared lots of laughs, been there for each other during the down times, and encouraged each other over and over.
-Our vehicles. Last but not least, I'm so thankful for cars that run and run and run, heat and air conditioning that works, and CD players so we can listen to Barney and Disney silly songs which make travelling with the Boogie bearable ...

We are leaving tomorrow on the looooong drive to Kentuckyland where we will not have internet access. I hope y'all have a great Thanksgiving this year!

The Best Way To Take A Nap

This morning while I worked the Boogie went to Chick-fil-a with her cousins. After lunch we took her to 52 so she could nap there while we cleaned the church. Apparently she only wanted to sleep in her bed for a little while because when we came back to pick her up this is what we found:
I guess Pop Pops are way more comfy!

Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

When your toddler finds the extra Taco Bell sauce packets in the pantry and thinks they are fun to play with, you should pick them up right away or else you will step on one and Fire Sauce will shoot out to places that you did not think physically possible for it to shoot to. Then you will spend thirty minutes trying to scrub it out of your carpet. Believe me, you do not want to learn that lesson the hard way.

I Think ...

... I'm feeling better today. I mean, I am feeling better but I don't want to be too optimistic too soon. I have had this happen to me before, the false feeling of "oh, I'm fine today!" and then an hour later I'm back on the couch. So I'm going to see how it goes this morning. Stomach bugs are no fun but at least this one was short-lived. I hope.

All I did yesterday was sit on the couch. I would occasionally get up to do something for the Boogie or get myself something to drink. I was going to stay in my jammies all day but I just can't do that. After a while I can't stand it anymore. While the Boogie napped I took a nice, long, hot shower and got dressed in real clothes and felt better. DH brought dinner home and then he rubbed my feet and legs. That man knows just what I need when I don't feel well.

If I had to get sick I'm glad it was this week instead of next because we are going on a road trip to Kentucky to see my grandparents and my mom! DH found out that he has a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving so we decided to make the long drive. I'm not looking forward to 12 hours in the car with the Boogie (who is not the world's best traveler) but we've made a couple of hotel reservations to break up our drive there and back. It will be worth it to see family over the holiday. Now, DH better not get sick ...

Sick Mama

Work includes housework and cooking and getting dressed. It's jammies day for me.

And I Quote

"Greetings from Target.com.

Due to an unexpected error, the following item(s) you have ordered were incorrectly priced at the time of your order.

Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat - Granite.

We're sorry, but we are unable to offer this item for the incorrect price. The correct price is $279.99. We have canceled your order for this item. If you would like to order this item at the correct price, please visit Target.com to check for availability.

Despite our best efforts, a small number of items on our site are occasionally mis-priced. We do, however, verify prices as part of our shipping procedures. If we discover that an item's correct price is higher than our stated price, we will either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order and notify you of the cancellation. This pricing policy is posted in the Help section on Target.com.

Again, we're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Thank you for being our valued guest.

Sincerely,
Guest Service Department
Target.com"

Oh well. It would have been a great deal!

If It Seems Too Good To Be True ...

... then it might not be. Rumor has it that Target goofed and will be cancelling the car seat orders. It's just a rumor right now and I haven't heard anything from Target myself, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see! If it gets shipped, great. If not, oh well. We don't really NEED another car seat.

The Boogie has been C-R-A-B-B-Y today. Tonight we'll go down and hang out with some LCs so hopefully that will make her happy. I think it's teething pain bothering her today. We went to work for a little while and she watched "The Backyardigans" which entertained her for an hour or so. We love "Backyardigans". When she sees the DVD case she starts singing the theme song!

It was really pretty out today. Chilly and clear and sunny. I wanted to go for a walk but with the sun setting so early walks just don't happen on Mondays. It's too hard to get one in before work, and when we get home from work it's naptime, and by the time the nap is over it's too late. BUT ...

... Just one more week of work! It's really hard for me to believe. I'll still be taking turns in the Saturday rotation, but that's just one or maybe two Saturdays a month. I'm so thankful that DH's job is enough to support us. I realize not many families are so blessed. God is very very good to us!

Incredible Deal!

Need a car seat? Target.com is selling a Britax Marathon for $42.99 and free shipping. It's 85% off! Click here for the link. I just ordered one for DH's car. Woot woot!

Duh

So all that thumping and banging around from Downstairs Neighbors the other night? (Not the first time, I might add.) The R family lives next door to Downstairs Neighbors and JR went over to ask them to keep it down. They were wrestling. I am so dumb. Of course the noise was from wrestling. I have brothers. I know what it sounds like. It's kinda funny that I didn't figure that out. In case you haven't noticed, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes.

At the grocery store this week I bought a roast. I've never made a roast before. This morning before church I put it in the Crock Pot with potatoes, carrots, and onions. It cooked the whole time we were at church. I kept thinking about how good it was going to be to come home and smell that cooking, and then get to eat it. I pictured the meat tender and falling apart, and the vegetables all mushy and full of flavor. I was disappointed. It was okay, but I think it would have been a lot better if I'd cooked it on low all day instead of four hours on high. Also a different cut of meat might have been better too. It wasn't bad for a first try, just not quite what I had hoped for. Well, when at first you don't succeed ...

At least I got to take a nap. DH not only washed the dishes, he dried them all and put them away! When the Boogie woke up from her nap, he got her up and entertained her until I woke up. It was very, very nice. I love naps. Naps are my favorite.

Ho Hum and Suchlike

Last night (or rather, this morning) the Boogie woke up at 2:15. I got her out of her crib and took her into the living room to rock her back to sleep. As we were getting settled in the recliner I realized that Downstairs Neighbors were wide awake as well. They were talking loudly and banging things and thumping around -- honestly when I hear them like that I get a picture in my mind of drunken staggering around, running into the walls. At least this time their music wasn't going. The Boogie went to sleep and I went back to bed. Downstairs Neighbors quieted down around 3:00 and I dozed off. Then DH got up at 4:00. Then the Boogie woke up again at 5:30. Then my alarm went off at 7:00. My sleep was all interrupted. Nights like that remind me of when the Boogie was smallerish and waking several times a night to eat. Maybe the next time around we should hire a night-nanny. No, I do not have anything to announce. There is no bun in this oven at present. Just thinkin' ahead.

I went to work this morning, as I usually do. DH stopped by the office on his way home from work and picked up the Boogie, as he usually does. I realized today that I have only one and a half weeks of work left! Wow! This afternoon DH and the Boogie both napped. I did laundry and surfed the interwebz. When they woke up we dropped the Boogie off downstairs to play with her cousins and went out by ourselves for a couple of hours. It was nice to go on a little date.

It looks like we might be taking a road trip sometime in the not-too-distant future. I will keep you posted ...

Happy Friday To Youuuuuu

I love Fridays. The weekend is coming and DH will be home with us!

It was nasty nasty out yesterday. Days like that make me want to stay home and watch Fred and Ginger in something like this:


But I had to go to work. I was going to work for about four hours and ended up staying a bit longer to cover for the scheduled receptionist who was not feeling well. More in my paycheck! If it gets yucky out again today like it was yesterday I am definitely pulling out my classic musical DVDs. Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, a young Frank Sinatra ... I can't resist their call on a rainy Friday afternoon.

One Hundred

I can't go to bed tonight without posting this milestone entry. I'm delighted that I've written so much over the last few months!

We went for a walk today and the Boogie had fun crunching through leaves. She giggled delightedly when I kicked through them. You can hear her cute little laugh in this video. It certainly was a beautiful day.

Thanks for the responses to my insomnia fears! I am not truly concerned about it at this point and know that the worst thing I can do is worry about being unable to sleep. Thankfully it doesn't happen very often. Hopefully there will be no recurrence tonight! I am off "to sleep, perchance to dream" (taken out of context, I know, but it sounds so pretty.)

Tired Mama

This mama needs 7-8 hours of sleep a night. I can get by on 6. Less than that makes me Mama the Grouch. I could not go to sleep last night. It is so frustrating to lay in bed wide awake and want so badly to go to sleep and not be able to. My Mamaw in Kentucky has suffered from insomnia for years and years and it is my irrational fear that I will develop it too. Is insomnia hereditary? A little trick that usually works for me is to start praying for people. I'll pray for a handful of folks and conk right out. Last night it didn't work quite as well, but I got a lot of praying in before finally dozing off! Then the Boogie woke up at 3:00. She is cutting four teeth so we've been doing this most nights for the past month or so. I Tylonaled her, rocked her, put her back in the crib, and got into bed. We repeated that a couple more times (minus the Tylonal.) By then it was almost 4:00 and time for DH to get up, so I gave up trying to get the Boogie to sleep. After he left for work we tried again but she didn't go to sleep until after 5:00 so, of course, neither did I. I may have gotten about 6 hours altogether which isn't bad and disqualifies me from being Mama the Grouch. On the plus side, I did all the housework yesterday and all I have to do today is fold laundry! That's a nice sit-down job. Maybe tonight we'll set up the little crib in the living room so the Boogie and I can sleep out here if we need to. That way we can keep from disturbing DH and avoid walking around on creaky floors.

Yesterday was Veteran's Day. I didn't mention anything in my post yesterday because it didn't occur to me. But I am very, very thankful for every man and every woman who has fought for the freedoms that we have in this country!

Little Monkey

Last night DH caught the Boogie climbing up on the wire shelves in her room. I told him that I didn't think she could pull them over because all of her books are anchoring them down pretty well. Of course, I said, she does sometimes pull the books out but that hardly ever happens. This morning I walked into her room to find this:

Notice the books all over the floor, and lack of them on the shelf? I just had to open my big mouth. She's never been a climber. She can get on and off of the couch and our bed, and this past week she figured out how to climb onto the dining room and computer desk chairs. I guess the next place I find her will be on the dining room table, or getting out of her crib!

I Got Nuthin'

I can't think of a clever or interesting title. Oh well.

Today was the funeral for our friend from church (she was SIL2's grandmother.) I coordinated childcare and had the older kids myself while a couple of other ladies took care of the babies and toddlers. I thought the more difficult job would be keeping the four- and five-year-olds entertained (which was why I chose to do it), but they were all very good and after hearing about all the crying and diaper-changing that went on in the nursery I think I had it pretty easy! There were lots of people at the funeral and when it was over we had lunch. The food was plenteous and delicious. My part in that was brewing six gallons of iced tea and making a dessert. MA (my office manager) had made a pumpkin cobbler a few weeks ago and I asked for the recipe. When it was time to start baking last night I looked everywhere for that recipe and couldn't find it. So I searched online for one that seemed similar, at least as close as I could remember, and found this one. Wouldn't you know that I found the original recipe this morning, stuck to the side of the fridge? I distinctly remember putting it there. Yep. So I wouldn't lose it. But guess what? It was the exact same one! Ha! I think it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I can't take any credit for it though, since I simply followed directions. It was very easy to make and nice change from pumpkin pie.

DH slept in this morning. It was not on purpose. He gets up every morning at 4:00. I get up at 4:05. He gets ready to go, and I get his lunch together and make his breakfast which he eats on the drive to work. Then he makes his coffee and we sit on the couch together for a few minutes, pray together, and walk downstairs together. He leaves for work and I go back to bed. My head usually hits the pillow at about 4:25. We have it down to a science. This morning the alarm didn't go off and DH woke up at 5:25! Oops! We had him out the door in less than ten minutes. Thanfully his work has different start times in the morning and he was able to start at 6:00 instead of 5:00 without it counting against him. Not the best start to his day, though.

I am freezing today. I just can't get warm. I even have the furnace running. It always runs on the cooler mornings but this is the first time in the afternoon. Today is rather chilly. It's BRISK out there.

Time to wake the Boogie up from her nap or she'll never go to bed tonight ...

Help Wanted

Wanted: Someone to come to my apartment once a week and scrub my shower. The tile and grout, the mildew and soap scum ... it is too much for me. I can't offer much in the way of monetary compensation but you will have my eternal gratitude. If you feel inclined to dust while you are here, well, that would earn you a whole pan of freshly-baked brownies all to yourself.

I talked to my dad yesterday. I put him on speakerphone so he could talk to the Boogie, too. She responded to everything he said to her with, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah." She has turned into a regular Chatty Cathy on the phone. I think she thinks that my mom (her Lela) lives in there. I was texting someone one day and she looked intently at the phone for a minute, got a big grin on her face, and said, "Lela!"

A topic came up the other day on the online mom board that I am part of. It really made me think and I am having a difficult time deciding exactly where I stand on this issue. Should a law be passed which bans smoking in a vehicle that children are riding in? My first inclination is to say no. I don't like the government telling me what I can and can't do in my own home or vehicle with my own family. I don't smoke, myself. I dislike it. I don't like when people smoke around me or my child. I know how dangerous it is to a person's health, not only to the smoker but to those breathing second-hand smoke. But if there is a law passed banning smoking in a vehicle when children are present, what will be banned next? On the other hand, if I am riding in a car with someone and they light up, I can ask them to put out their cigarette. If I am in a room with someone who is smoking, I can leave. A child doesn't usually have that ability. Small children especially are helpless in this area. So in that case, would a law which protects the innocent be worth it? What do YOU think?

The Boogie had a bath this afternoon and her freshly-washed hair dried so cute and wispy with the ends all flipped out. I tried to get a good picture of it but she wasn't very cooperative. I got a couple of shots. Then I tried for some self-portraits of the two of us. Her eyes were closed in just about every one! What are the odds? But I managed to get one or two.

And then just for fun:

Moving On ...

It has been windy and rainy the last couple of days. I am barely motivated to do anything. This entry will be short, sweet, and to the point, and then I am going to do something. I don't know what, but it will be something other than sitting here.

I can't remember if I wrote about this before, but over the last couple of months two wonderful things happened. The first thing was that we paid off my car! You have to know that my car came straight from the Lord. I needed a vehicle. I'd been praying for a few specific things: low mileage, good mpg, and four doors (I was a nanny and getting a car seat in and out of the back seat in my previous 2-door was a royal pain) while saving my pennies. When I had a few hundred dollars saved up my dad and I went car shopping. The very first one I saw was a little gray Saturn sedan. It was 3 years old and had under 6000 miles on it! I sat in it and it fit me just right. I sat in a few others but I knew that Saturn was the car for me so I put down my few hundred dollars and financed the rest ... and my dad drove it home since I couldn't drive a stick. I couldn't even test-drive it! That afternoon my brother took me out on some back roads so I could practice driving and the next day I drove it to work. I love that car. We have had a beautiful relationship over the past five years. As long as the Lord doesn't have other plans I am going to drive it till it falls apart! It feels so good to be finished with that monthly payment.

The second big news is that we paid off the Boogie! Whew, at last we can stop worrying about her being repossessed. :) You already know how I feel about her so I don't think I need to rhapsodize about my undying affection for her.

Writing about these things reminded me that I need to pay bills. But there are two less to pay this month!

Well, United States of America

You got what so many of you think you want. I fear for our country with such a man in office. But I am comforted knowing that God is greater than any man, and more powerful than any government, and merciful beyond all measure. Praise God for His mercy. I pray that He continues to be merciful to us ...

Happy Day Sad Day

Remember that dear lady from church? She went Home today to be with her Lord and Saviour. I am happy for her and sad for her family. It is always hard to say goodbye to someone you love, even when you know that they are going to the most glorious place there is.

Did you vote today? I did!

The Boogie slept for three hours today. Amazing. While she was sleeping H-man came over. He was weepy and clingy. He didn't want his juice. He didn't want a snack. He didn't want to read or play with toys. So I rocked him and he fell asleep, still shuddering in his sleep with hiccupy sobs. He slept for two hours! It was a quiet afternoon at our house.

Tomorrow Is The Big Day

Don't forget to vote!

Sick Boogie

The Boogie and I are staying home from church tonight. This morning while she was in the nursery she cried so hard she threw up. I'm pretty sure that's all it was but we're staying home just to be safe. She's been awfully whiny and clingy lately so I wouldn't be surprised if her tummy was upset this morning.

This weekend has been revival at church! It's been very good. Yesterday we had lunch after the service and HR made a cake replica of the church building! It was amazing! She is so creative.

I found a nice fall look for my blog! What do you think?

Remember the snow we had last week? I found out why it snowed. A dear lady in our church was very recently diagnosed with cancer and has rapidly worsened. She told FIL that she prayed to see snow before God took her Home. I guess He wants her to come to Him soon! She is SIL2's grandma and there are many of her family in our church. I can hardly imagine what it must be like for them. While I'm sure they want to be happy for her, they are the ones who will left behind, missing someone very special. Would you pray for peace and comfort for this family?