outnumbered

Ring ... ring ... ring ...

2007-02-20T11:00:00.001-05:00

Hi, you've reached Lisa's blog. I am currently unavailable, as I have decided to move to Wordpress. If you'd like to leave a message, click on the "snappy comebacks" button on the bottom of the page. If you'd like to find the real Outnumbered Lisa, check out my blog at outnumberedlisa.wordpress.com.

Thanks! And have a great day!

New Survey

2007-02-19T17:30:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I decided to see how y'all like commenting on wordpress. Head on over there to answer my latest survey. Have a great day!!

A few things to let you know about ...

2007-02-19T09:42:00.000-05:00

In honor of Presidents Day, take this quiz to see how much you know about the quirky habits of our Commanders-in-Chief. I did pretty poorly myself.

Paula is ready for us to take her survey on Christians and Depression. She is going to write an article for Christian Woman and wants to know how members of the church of Christ view depression. Paula writes:

I have developed a survey to gather additional information and hope that you can assist me by participating. This survey is completely anonymous and only takes a couple of minutes. There is no way anyone, including myself, will know who participated or have access to your e-mail address. Survey results will be posted at www.depressionsurvey.blogspot.com in April.

Go to this post and read the rest of her description, then click on the link to take the survey. It didn't take me very long, only a few minutes, and Paula would really appreciate having as many survey-takers as possible. Thanks!!

Trey Morgan has been named Man of the Year in Childress, Texas. Apparently his town makes a big deal of choosing someone that has affected their community positively. Congratulations, Trey! (He's gonna be sooo embarrassed that I did that. :) )

Well, I'm about to take the plunge. I am going to be switching over to wordpress.com, I think, as soon as I figure out everything I want to about it. If you want to see what it looks like so far, you can go to lisaleichner.wordpress.com. I'll let you know when I make the official switch. I know it will be inconvenient to many of you who will have to edit your favorites lists and blogrolls. I'm sorry for that!

Read my lips, no new babies!! and Fun Stories from Amelia's

2007-02-17T23:38:00.000-05:00

After my last post and the subsequent comments, I feel the need to emphasize that there are no plans for any more children in our future. I know that sometimes God has other plans for us and we are not totally in control, and that is fine. If He desires that we have another child, then so be it. If that happens, y'all need to remember that we are just as likely to have a BOY as we are to have a girl. So I want y'all to stop talking about pink yarn and baby sisters and the like. Okay?!

I must have misquoted Jeremy, as I was positive he was talking about a sister for the hermit crab. But I will check with him in the morning and get back to you. He has come a long way in his love for girls, but as far as I know, he (nor his brothers) have had many thoughts of actually having one in our immediately family. In fact, now that I think about it, that's kinda funny because you hear all the time about kids asking for baby brothers or sisters, but I've not heard my kids discussing that. I think that must mean that our family is perfect as is and the boys do not feel they are lacking for more siblings.

{{Update, Sunday afternoon: Jeremy said that it was a sister for the hermit crab that he was asking for. "Yes, I wanted a sister for the hermit crab, a friend for the hermit crab, and a cat." "Jeremy, is the cat for you or the hermit crab?" "For me." So, there you have it. He couldn't care less about having a baby sister, the kid just wants a cat and 2 more hermit crabs.}}

So that's enough talk of all the pink stuff, got it? I've got plenty of my own pink stuff to go 'round.

Now, here are a few funny stories from my last few nights at work (at least I think they're funny). Then I'm going to bed.

On Tuesday night my boss called and said not to bother coming in because freezing rain was beginning to fall, and he knew it'd be so slow that I wasn't needed (the other night-shift girl was already in, so it made sense for me to be the one to stay home). That was the second Tuesday in a row that I wasn't needed, as the previous one we had snow.

On Wednesday night some friends from church (2 couples that we're close to) told me that they had stopped in Amelia's the night before, hoping to see me. I felt really bad about that, but of course, there wasn't any way I should have assumed that someone I knew was going to stop in, nor would I have necessarily gone in anyway, just because I knew someone I knew was going to stop in. I guess I could have warned them, if I had known they were planning to go. Anyway ... they told me that they asked if I was working and their waitress, Angie, a quiet high school girl, said that I was no longer working there!!

The kicker is that my friends actually thought I had been fired!

Angie later told me that she headed away from the table after telling them that and realized who "Lisa" was, not the girl that was fired before I started working, so she ran back to tell them it was a mistake and that I was indeed still working there, but I just didn't come in that night.

Anyway, I thought it was pretty funny.

Last night, Angie told me that she really liked working with me and that she felt like we had been working together forever, rather than just a few weeks. I thought that was really sweet (especially coming from quiet Angie), but I teased her about saying that, since only a couple days before she had forgotten who I was!!

Tonight, Vicki & Mike stopped in with their kids, AND Bevin, Corey & Cooper stopped in too! It was a great night. I had so much fun, and I felt really good that friends had stopped in the restaurant to see me (though Vicki & Mike are fairly regular customers, this was the first time we'd been there at the same time). And I think my boss thought it was pretty cool that I was getting people into the restaurant. I really like working somewhere that gets rave reviews on their food. I've never had anyone complain about the food, and I personally think the food is wonderful too. It is a lot easier to work somewhere, and you can totally mean it when you say, "The food is great!"

Last night a classmate of Nathan's stopped in with his mom. They were just getting take-out, so they were sitting on a bench waiting for the food, and I was able to introduce myself & talk to them a bit. When John, who happens to be one of Nathan's favorite friends at school, said that he really likes our pizza, I said, "Oh, I do too. I grew up in NJ, and the pizza is just like what I used to have, so I love it." His mom's face lit up, and she said, "You grew up in NJ? So did I!!" And wouldn't ya know we grew up like 20 miles apart, in the same county I think. She grew up in Budd Lake & her husband lived in Hackettstown (that knowledge is really for my family who will know where those places are). And when I asked what brought her down here she said that her husband worked for a company called Hercules ten years ago, but after they had a huge explosion (an explosion which we were able to feel 15 miles away, by the way), he lost his job & they relocated down to these parts. And our sons, whose birthdays are THREE days apart, are in the same class at school. I'm telling you, this whole thing just smells of God's planning to me. I cannot wait to see how this unfolds!!

As if that wasn't enough, last night I got home from work, read Neva's post about an explosion at a plant near her home, and I go to leave a comment telling her I will also pray for the men who were injured and their families, and lo & behold, my Dad has left his very first comment on her blog, relating the story of the Hercules explosion that I had just talked about with the woman at the restaurant a few hours before. What is going on in this crazy world?!

Well, that's it for tonight. I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. I had actually planned to go straight to bed when I got home tonight, but Dan was watching a movie when I got in, so I decided to wait up with him ... except, where is Dan now? Oh yeah, he's gone to bed and I'm still here at the computer. Something's wrong with this picture. :)

I will tell you about the earlier part of my day in a later post (consider this my reminder), and some time I'd like to tell you about some of the people I work with, besides sweet, quiet Angie.

((P.S. for Tanya: tonight my boss saw that there was one more slice of pizza left -- the slices that they save for when someone orders just one slice -- and, assuming that I would want it, which of course I did! -- he asked me if I wanted anything on it. It took me less than a second to say, "Oooh, tomatoes!"))

2007-02-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the frequent posting the past couple of days. I guess I've had a lot to talk about.

**NB, I'm sorry I didn't immediately realize who you were. Please try again. I am not trying to be intrusive, I would like to meet you. I was limiting myself to people I already knew when trying to come up with someone whose initials were "NB," ... and I can be an idiot sometimes. Maybe you'd prefer not to have an idiot for a friend, anyway, and I wouldn't blame you for that. :)

We were at the pet store today getting some supplies for our hermit crab, and Jeremy asked me repeatedly if we could get a pet for the hermit crab. I said at some point we could get another hermit crab to be its buddy, but it'd probably be a while.

A few minutes ago, Jeremy asked me, "Mommy, can we get a sister [for the hermit crab] and a friend for our hermit crab?"

Jeremy & Derek are now picking out names for our "new hermit crab." The names include "Peace" (which is what J really wanted to call our last one), "Kitty Cat," "Jeremy Christopher," and "Hemrit" (Yes, I spelled that right).

Don't miss the last few posts!
You'll be very sad if you do.

You asked, I deliver!

2007-02-16T00:56:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not bringing over your pizza tonight (though Amelia's makes a mean NY-style pizza pie -- you'll have to stop in tonight to see me AND to get your own pizza). Trey Morgan recently asked about my kids. As I composed a l-o-n-g comment in response, I thought, "I haven't written very much about the kids lately!" So, here are some new things the kids are doing lately ... or the same old things but with a new twist. :)

Nathan
My almost-6-year-old wonder ... I was beginning to think he was making all his classmates mad as he had yet to be invited to a birthday party. But last week we received not one, but two, invitations to parties that are coming up soon, and, of course, Nathan's will be next weekend as well. It will be a busy time for Nathan's classmates and their families! I don't know if you ever let your kids invite their entire class to their parties, but we decided we'd limit it to 3, along with 3 church friends, and 2 cousins (unless our Memphis cousins want to "stop in"??). Then it became 4 school friends because Nathan had a hard time narrowing it down to 3. Then we got an invitation from a girl that Nathan did not choose as his top 4, so I'm thinking it might be 5. :)

Last week we received a letter saying that Nathan had been nominated by his teacher for the gifted program. We have some paperwork to fill out to give them "a picture" of what Nathan is like, and then there will be some sort of conference or meeting to determine whether or not he will enter the program. I am very pleased. Did I tell you about the first round of testing that his teacher told me about at our parent/teacher conference back in October? The testing was out of 104 points. They look for the kindergarten children to make 28 points in their first quarter of school. Nathan got 104! After that, I would have been pretty surprised if he wasn't invited to the gifted program. I realize this sounds like a lot of bragging ... and it is. Sorry. I can't help it. I'm very proud. If you can't brag on your kids, then what are you going to do?? I don't know if the other 2 kids will be invited to the gifted program, but I know they will be recognized in other ways for excellence, so I hope we are able to show our children how proud we are of them, no matter what their strengths are. I also hope we always remind there Where their gifts come from.

On another note, one of Nathan's weaknesses is his inability to stay focused in class. I realize that at this age, maybe you can't expect much, though I'm sure his teacher knows just how much she can expect and he doesn't quite meet up with that. So we are working on encouraging him to stay focused on his work. I warned him last week that I had talked with his teacher about sending home any work that he didn't get finished in class and if the teacher tells me that he should have been able to finish it, he will work on it as soon as he gets home before he gets to do anything else. He has yet to bring home any unfinished homework, so hopefully he got the message. I'm sure it will be forgotten soon, but I'm glad he's taking it seriously now.

Jeremy
I've told you before that Jeremy is my ~~favorite~~ easiest kid to get along with. And I don't know if it's him or both of us--you know, if he gets along easily with everyone, or if it's just the chemistry that he & I have. He rarely gets on my bad side. He has so much ZEST -- when he's excited about something, it shows. His voice changes, he talks more rapidly & less understandably, he uses his hands more, etc. He was a "follower-of-Nathan" until Nathan went to school. Then he became "the followed." Derek and all the other children we keep in our home look up to Jeremy and follow him around. The change amazes me. What I thought he lacked in leadership was really just lurking in the shadows until it was needed. When Jeremy accidentally (or otherwise) hurts someone, he immediately feels bad about it, he hugs & kisses the person and says repeatedly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," until you finally say, "okay, Jeremy, it's okay."

Jeremy also has really bonded with my niece Hannah, who comes to stay with us each Tuesday & Thursday afternoon after preschool. They play very well together. He told her last week that she was his best friend. Considering his previous view on girls, he has come very far indeed! Today they were playing together and I heard the following conversation (Terri ought to get a kick out of this):

Hannah: "Let's play house, Jeremy!"
Jeremy: "No, I don't want to play that. Let's play bad guys!"
Hannah: "Umm, I don't think so." (She's sooo cute!!) "That's for boys. House is a game for girls."

How young they figure things out!! Ha!

Jeremy is sooooo athletic. I always wished I was athletic and I wasn't, so I am really excited about having an athletic child. Dan has been fairly athletic, but never really gifted in one sport especially, though he did get pretty good at volleyball. Anyway, the way Jeremy jumps and somersaults and jumps onto the couch with his hands into a headstand on the back of the couch (don't know if I described that well), he just seems so coordinated and graceful. I've told you all this before, I know. When I watched Jeremy play with Nathan's soccer team one night, and play just as well as the kids that were 2 years older, it made me so proud! :)

Jeremy also has a funny way of composing sentences. He might say something of the sort, "Are we going to the park today because I really like the park the park is my favorite so we should go." -or- "I like to play with trucks, so I wanted to go downstairs to play with them, but I just didn't!" Jeremy is the most polite of our children, the one most likely to remember his "please" and "thank you." He remembers to ask to be excused from the table before he gets up and he usually remembers to ask for something the right way, "Can I ... please?"

Derek
Have I told you that Derek's beginning potty-training? I don't know if this is just an experiment or if it is the real thing. I guess we'll know in a month or two. Maybe he just likes to be naked. :) Well, yes, we all know that, it was my Fatal Mistake. Seriously, you ought to check out that post if you haven't been reading since November. You'll be sooo glad you did. (Um, maybe I should warn you, though, that there might be a naked bottom in the post -- not mine, though!)

Derek is really charming, and that kinda worries me. You know the type of guy that babies like him turn into! So we'll be working on that. He is just so darn cute sometimes!! Here's a warning for those of you who might have children younger than 2. When they start turning on the charm, do your best to resist! Believe me, you'll thank me for it when they're older.

One thing about Derek is that you have to occasionally pull out some psychological tricks, especially when wanting him to get dressed or help you clean up. Telling him to do it is likely to get you a "no!" Occasionally it's good to go ahead and tell him (or ask him, if you prefer that terminology), take the "no!" then discipline him for that so that he understands who's the boss. :) But sometimes when you're not in the mood for a fight, starting out with different tactics are a bit easier on you. Asking him to be a big helper and give Mommy a hand is a great trick. He loves to be a helper. Act like you really need his help and he'll step up to the plate. With clothes, he almost always says he does not want to wear what you pick out for him. So, you need to pretend that you are going to wear the clothes instead and that Derek can't wear them ... works every time. I especially enjoy hamming it up and pretending to try to put his clothes on myself, which always gets a big smile.

Another warning for the young children ... try to instill the "please" and "thank you" as soon as they're learning to talk (or if you're using sign language, sooner!). And then, after you have it well-established, stay on top of it! We made the mistake, probably with all 3 of ours but maybe not as much with Jeremy, of not always correcting them if they forgot. So occasionally they'd forget to say it, we'd think, "well, they almost always say it, so I'm not going to bother with it this one time," but the next thing you know, you're having to start over practically from scratch because they get back out of the habit. So, start very early and then stay on top of it!

So, that's it. Hope you enjoyed the recap of how the kids are doing and growing!!

Peanut Butter Poisoning

2007-02-15T17:17:00.000-05:00

Just in case you were wondering ... my family is fine. I hope everyone else is too. :) There's been a recall of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter. I actually do have a can with a lot number on it that was recalled, but we haven't yet opened it. If my sister-in-law Terri hadn't called me today to let me know, however, I would have used it for lunches tomorrow.

I had to dig through the trash to find the lid of the last peanut butter jar, the one I used to make Dan's sandwich this morning. Sure 'nough ... it had the wrong number on it!! So, THAT's why I've been having stomach issues all week!! Yuck. Fortunately, miraculously, no one else seems to have been affected. Yay! (I know "yay" is traditionally spelled "yea" but I think that's changing. I like this new spelling better anyway. Since I don't plan to use the word for any formal writing assignments any time soon, I think I can spell it however I'd like)

So, if you live in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Tennessee, & you have a peanut butter lid with a long number beginning with 2111- ... don't eat it!! I also heard that you can take it back to Kroger, Wal-Mart or Food Lion for a refund.

I guess I'll be going to the store tonight for some Skippy. :)

Some Recent Updates & Goings-On

2007-02-15T08:56:00.000-05:00

Thanks, Mom, for wishing me a Happy Half-Birthday yesterday. That is one reason Valentine's Day is special to me ... in fact, if I didn't have kids, I probably wouldn't bother with V-Day at all, but I always want to remember my Half-Birthday! I told the kids yesterday that it was my Half-Birthday; Derek said, "Happy Birthday!" and Jeremy said, "Is that why we're getting candy?"

On Tuesday night, we got some freezing rain. I'm not crazy about ice, especially on the roads or somewhere I need to walk, but I think it is so beautiful on the trees (and everything, really). Half-way through yesterday, the sun came out and the effect on the ice was so beautiful. Behind our house we have a row of trees, then the land drops down so there is nothing directly behind those trees--it's perfect for getting a prism-like effect in our backyard. Beautiful! I didn't get the camera out again after the sun came out (though I may have another chance today--with temperatures around 10 degrees, I don't think the ice is going to melt), but here are some pictures I took yesterday morning of our backyard. Just kidding, those pictures are NOT from our backyard. Aunt Dawn will recognize those pictures from an email she sent me with some really crazy shots of icicles in a city in Switzerland.

One of the little girls that I keep, who's a few months older than Derek, was talking to him the other day. He was kinda walking away from her and she was following, trying to get his attention. I think she tried just about everything, but the one thing that finally got his attention? "Happy Holidays, Derek!" He turned around & said, "Happy Holidays!" They went back & forth with this a few times when the little girl started breaking out the specific holidays to use ... "Happy Valentine's Day!" "Happy Easter!" "Merry Christmas!" etc. It was very cute.

I really like my jobs. It's great getting to stay home and keep kids. The restaurant is great. They're not well-known yet, so it doesn't get so busy that it's very stressful. My last restaurant job could be pretty stressful. My boss & his wife are great. What's funny is that at my old restaurant, I always felt so old working with all the college students there, even though I was only a few years older than they were. Well, now I work with all high school students! I feel like their mother! And they definitely do NOT think I am cool! HA! It's a bit of a challenge being friends with them, but they're all pretty nice kids and we get along.

Derek has been a singing maniac lately. He sings all the time. He even sings when he's praying! It's so adorable. He also makes up songs. If you ask him to sing a song about a particular person or subject, there are one of two variations he might sing for you. They both have a tune similar to the first line of "Pop Goes the Weasel" (Here we go 'round the mulberry bush). It's either "Thank you for my brothers" or "This is a song about Mommy." Very cute. He sang a few songs for some friends at church last night. I get such a kick out of it.

Well ... this has been a difficult week for me. This will be the second time in about 7 months that I have to say goodbye to good friends. Angela & Travis are moving to Florida. The good news is that I will be able to get together with them when I go down to see my folks. The bad news, obviously, is that I can't run 5 minutes down the road to have a chat with Angela or share coffee & dessert with them. Both being quite witty, Angela & Travis have provided me with many laughs over the past three years. They are also really caring people, who look out for others. They've taught me a lot about hospitality as they often have people in their home.

I thought moving away from New Jersey, to a fairly rural/suburban area of Southwest Virginia, I'd be in a place where people stayed forever. I didn't think I'd be dealing with saying goodbye to friends every year, such as I did when I was a youngster living outside of New York, where many of my friends' parents worked. But alas, I didn't take into account living near a college town (two, actually), that people would be in and out of this area just as much. They come for grad school, then move on, or move in & out for other reasons. I am very happy for Angela & Travis. Travis is starting his first job with an architecture firm, and they will be so close to Travis' parents, who are really awesome people. I am very happy for them being closer to family, especially now that they're expecting their first child. So much change for them! It seems like we have a tendency to take on a bunch of change all at once, rather than taking on our big life changes one step at a time.

Well, I don't want to end this on a sad note, even though most of you are probably bored with my ramblings and just wish I'd just quit going! Derek has started the process of potty-training. I am anxious to see where he will go with it. Nathan did not start until he was nearly 3 & we really encouraged him to try. Jeremy, on the other hand, saw his big brother using the big toilet & wanted to do it too. He was completely potty-trained by the time he was 2 & 1/2. In fact, Jeremy was able to go the entire night without using the bathroom before Nathan could make it all night! So far, Derek just likes to run around the house without a diaper on. He occasionally sits on his little potty, but has yet to do anything in it. Yesterday he went for more than 5 hours without a diaper and without "going," but he finally asked if I would put his diaper back on, I guess because he wasn't able to hold it any longer.

Some more Switzerland Icicle shots:

Pretty crazy, huh?

A "sweet" message for you ...

2007-02-14T08:56:00.001-05:00

Thirteen More Things I Love

2007-02-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

(continued from February 1st, here)
1. Having a warm husband to keep my feet from freezing at night.
2. Hot chocolate.
3. Laughing.
4. Having so many boys in my family, even if I am "outnumbered." :)
5. Hot showers.
6. Blogging.
7. My feet in warm sand.
8. Singing along with four-part harmony.
9. Closing my eyes & just absorbing a beautifully sung song.
10. Shoveling for the neighbors.
11. Making spaghetti with the Hinckleys. (we're doing it again tomorrow night!)
12. Vacation, long or short.
13. Sleeping in.

What do you love?

You can make your own candy hearts too!

Some new blogs I've come across

2007-02-12T22:54:00.000-05:00

Some of you may have noticed comments from some "new" people lately. So I want to introduce you to ...

Bill at the Spiritual Oasis, who coined the "Learning and Yearning" phrase above in my Blog subtitle. After I told you about a great post he wrote a month ago or so, he saw that people were going over to his blog from mine. I've enjoyed having him around ever since. :) If you're looking for more blogs to read that are written by Christians, check out his extensive blogroll. He does some exploring to find blogs that will encourage, uplift, inspire & challenge and is very willing to share his findings!

Two lovely women that Bill found before I did are Kathy & Neva. They are excellent writers that you will enjoy reading! (Neva was the inspiration for listing some of my "loves" in the subtitle.) To use Kathy's words, the three of us are scattered out through the generations, but I sense we are kindred spirits (despite the fact that they're from Texas).

Trey Morgan, a preacher from the huge state of Texas, has been a regular reader & commenter for the past couple of weeks. It is a bit confusing having another Trey around, but he's brought a lot of insight & good thoughts, so we'll keep him. :) Check out his blog Rediscovering Church, Rediscovering Jesus sometime; you'll be glad you did! (He's also the father of 4 boys, and you gotta love someone who can handle so many boys!)

Here are some other interesting blogs I know about that I haven't mentioned before.

Chris Gallagher's latest series of posts is on Disagreements. You'll find it very interesting! Gallagher is also indirectly the reason I began the whole new Blog title search. I won't get into how that all started, but it had to do with Galatians 6:9, which you'll see isn't even still up there! It has been moved to the left, and it was the inspiration for the "doing right, doing good" theme above.

Patrick Mead has recently begun a series on "Hidden People." It's fascinating!

If you are interested in what life is like in American Samoa, an old acquaintance of mine & Dan's from Harding lives there with his wife and three children. Philip Murphy is witty and fun to read.

[[If you try to keep up with a long list of blogs, and you go to each site every day checking for a new post, you ought to try something like Bloglines (a button in my sidebar will take you there) or Google Reader. They will alert you to a new post, so you don't have to check each one every day (or several times each day)!]]

Your help on choosing a new Blog title is very much appreciated!
Thanks to Brian for "the Y's have it" and his desire to mention gluing my fingers together in my Blog title. He's probably disappointed that I haven't changed my middle name to "Three-finger," but I don't suppose he can complain what with all the contributions he did have for the title. Thanks to "little" brother Trey for his Supermom contribution (I loved your alliteration, even though I only kept one of the S's!), and to Paula who may not have realized she gave me the idea for "sleeping in on Saturdays" (the train of thought was as follows: "lounging around with Lisa," hmmm ... lounging ... in PJs ... sleep ... sleeping in ... the only day I get to sleep in -- til 8:00 sometimes! -- is Saturday ... and there you have it). Certainly much thanks goes to Laura, who let me borrow her "creative bone" by donating a clever blog title. I love the simplicity of it--especially since I have a tendency to use too many words (among other things such as the parenthesis, quotation marks, ellipses, etc.). Shocking to learn that, isn't it?

Thanks also to those of you who voted, contributed other titles, offered jokes to keep us laughing, and keep me encouraged in so many other ways -- mainly that you keep reading this silly blog of mine! I can't believe that you're still here, but what a joy it is. Many of you also keep up ongoing email discussions with me, or let me keep pestering you with them, and those too encourage me in ways for which I can't begin to thank you. I'm still amazed by the added benefits I've received from blogging that I couldn't have anticipated when I began.

Grace and peace to you all,
-Lisa
(thanks to Paul for his inspiration from Philippians -- man, everyone's inspiring me these days!)

Have you gotten one of these?

2007-02-11T16:20:00.000-05:00

I get emails all the time from various persons whose names I don't recognize, and in the subject of the email is a phrase that sounds like it would be from someone I know.

For example:
"I was supposed to see you that day, after school."
"Hey you"
"Thanks for the good time"
"Have you seen this?"

My initial thought is usually, "Huh? I know I don't know that person." Then, "Why would they use a subject like that?"

I know why they bother ... to get me to open the email. Do I do it? Yep--a little nervously for fear that I will be opening a virus, but my curiosity won't allow me to ignore an email since my forgetfulness makes it possible that I do actually know the person but don't remember the name and my polite-ness would hate to be rude and ignore an email from someone I might know. And, of course, the body of the email is about mortgage insurance or some kind of drugs (prescription, I think--I hope) or some other nonsense. Just the fact that the subject does not match up with the body is enough to make me think "SPAM."

I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that these people use a subject that will do exactly what it did: draw me in, make me curious enough to open it even though I don't recognize the name of the sender. They were counting on me being a sucker and I delivered. I don't think my email service would allow a virus to come through on the email itself and I would never open an attachment from someone I didn't know, so I think my computer will be safe from whatever virus they might be trying to send. I think for the most part these people are trying to sell me something, but they know that if the subject says, "Hey, we want to sell you something," I'm much less likely to read what they have to say.

How often does the Devil use these tactics in our lives? He's pretty sneaky, isn't he? He doesn't whisper in your ear, "Hey, I really want you to be unhappy in life and I want to separate you from the love of your Father, so why don't you deny Him for me?" He says, "You oughta try this [insert sin], it's going to make you feel sooo good." "C'mon, you know you're going to love it." He lures us away under false pretenses, convincing us that whatever sin it is we are tempted by will make us feel better than what our Father's love can do for us--fulfill us, refresh us, save us.

As Neva reminded me, our God provides us many things, and one of those things is a way out when we're tempted. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

I couldn't wait ...

2007-02-11T01:02:00.001-05:00

So what do you think?
(If you don't like it, I don't want to know.)

Scroll down, because I've made some other changes as well. Stay tuned for some more pictures! (My computer's too slow & I'm too impatient to do any more than that for now)

What do you think? Your thoughts matter here ...

2007-02-09T08:28:00.000-05:00

I am narrowing down the Title search (not for my house, for the blog). And I'm beginning to see it was a mistake to ask for ideas for the title. Don't get me wrong--I needed ideas & in a way, I'm glad I asked. BUT, I realize now that in so doing, I will have to actually choose one of these titles. No, that doesn't bother me because I think the titles are bad. It will bother me to choose one and NOT choose the rest! I'm one of those people that doesn't like to offend anyone or hurt their feelings. I hate confrontation or conflict or disagreements of any type. That can be bad when something really does need to be said and I don't want to do it because it might hurt feelings. I am learning (perhaps a little late in life, but better late than never) how to be more honest and discuss openly the issues I have with others so that they do not become huge chasms between us, destroying our friendship.

But I digress ... choosing a title is going to be difficult. I think I will be ready to have the new one up by Monday. So, if you can handle the suspense over the weekend, this should give you something to look forward! If you want to vote, or submit an idea, there's still time. My procrastinating nature will probably prevent me from choosing one until Monday morning. (Don't forget that you can vote on others that were submitted in the comments section of my last post)

I'll give you a hint ... since the flavor of my blog is a bit silly and lighthearted, that's probably where I'm going to head with the title. Though sometimes I wish I were more serious ... well, you know me. It seems I just can't help it.

I just love posting those surveys. I am so excited that so many of you respond to them. Some of you totally surprise me--either with your specific answers or just the fact that you answered at all! Why do you think I enjoy those surveys so much? (I know, but I want to see if YOU know)

I want to congratulate my son Nathan. Last week his teacher started a reward system that allows the children who earn a certain number of points each week a treat on Friday. Last week Nathan had an ice cream. Today Nathan is going to school in pajamas; his reward was having Pajama Day. He is very excited about getting to wear his Cars pajamas to school. It was a tough decision which ones to wear, as he got a few new sets of PJs for Christmas & he loves them all. But Cars won out. So, way to go, Nathan! I'm so proud of my little man.

Our next door neighbor, Bill, has been caring for his wife for the past few years. She has Alzheimer's and she is very far progressed with the disease. The other day an ambulance pulled up to the house, in no hurry whatsoever. I feared the worst had happened. I took some dinner over to him that night. When I walked in, he introduced me to his niece. We made small talk & then I told Bill that I wanted to bring him over something to eat. Wanda said, "well, Bill, why don't you sit down and tell us what happened? Is she gone then?" And I was thinking, "WHAT?! She seems way too casual about it all. And blunt. Good grief!" Well ... I'm very happy to report that she has not passed away, but was rather taken to a nursing home. However, Bill is not happy about this. Though I can see that his family thinks it is a better situation because of how difficult it must be to care for someone like his wife, who seemingly has no idea that others are around, and no one's even sure if she is aware of Bill. Except Bill. He is confident she knows she's around, he is sure that Alma knows they sleep together at night. He thinks Alma tries to talk to him. I'm not saying I doubt Bill; he surely knows Alma better than anyone else in this world. But no one else is sure about that. The decision for Alma to go to a nursing home was not Bill's. He is very upset about it. Apparently Social Services decided the matter and went to court to have it ordered. So ... I ask you to pray for Bill, because he really misses his wife.

There's a guy from my church who writes for the Roanoke newspaper from time to time. I started asking him questions about how he got started, how someone would develop some credentials to hopefully lead to writing for a newspaper, etc. After a few email conversations, he said that he wanted to help me get an article in the paper. He has some suggestions for getting started. When I'm ready to write an article, he'll help me edit it, and he'll put in a word for me with his editor. He wants me to start by writing an essay (or more than one) to read on public radio. Now that I actually have this concrete step to take, I feel frozen! I can't think of a topic. I don't even know where to start. Do I write a devotional-type essay? Do I write an essay about raising kids? Do I write a human interest story?

What do you think I should write about? (There I go again, asking for ideas)

Renaming Lisa's Blog

2007-02-07T23:52:00.000-05:00

I was hoping to come up with a title that went along with Galatians 6:9. I sorta liked what I came up with, but thought it could be worded more creatively. But none of you went along with that theme, so I'll have to go elsewhere. I'm actually going to put this to a vote (we do love democracy, do we not?). Here are some suggestions you all gave me, and then I went to the Sloganizer, recommended by Matt Dabbs in a recent post, to see what else I could come up with. Let me know which are your favorites!

1-- "Lisa's Life" (Dad)

2-- "Outnumbered" (Laura)

3-- "Surveys and Stories from a Semi-satirical Supermom" (Trey B)

4-- "The Blog of Life" (graciously given to me by the Blog Prophet)

5-- "Lounging around with Lisa" (Paula)

6-- "Lisa Lisa and the Strawberry Jam" (Brian)

7-- "Lisa 'Three Finger' Leichner" (seriously don't know why Brian thinks that'd be a good one)

8-- "Lisa, Boys, Chaos -- It's like Heaven!"
(this from the Sloganizer after putting in the key words: "Lisa, boys, chaos")

I'm actually torn between several of them, so I'll be interested to see where your votes go. I have to warn you, though, if you vote for #7 I will destroy this democracy & become a dictator.

I put all these titles in the Sloganizer & here's what it came back with:

1a -- "The American Way of Lisa's Life"

2a -- "Outnumbered, there's no better way"
(does anyone else have Trust & Obey stuck in their heads now?)

3a -- "The Power of Surveys and Stories from a Semi-satirical Supermom"
(kinda messes with the alliteration, doesn't it Trey B? I have to do the "B" now since I have 2 Treys)

4a -- "The Blog of Life lifestyle"
(isn't that a bit redundant?)

5a -- "Lounging around with Lisa - You see this name, you think dirty"
(I just don't know about that one!)

6a -- "Lisa Lisa and the Strawberry Jam is your safe place in an unsafe world!"
(this is too funny. I'm afraid to put in the next one)

7a -- "Call a friend, call Lisa three finger Leichner"

Oh man, that was too funny ... maybe it's just too late ... and that, Loni, is your answer to when do I find time to post: I don't sleep, I don't clean the house, and I don't even eat ... much.

Silly Questions & Probably Sillier Answers

2007-02-07T00:50:00.000-05:00

I had so much fun with the last survey that I couldn't wait to do another one! Plus I wanted something fun to do while I'm stuck at home today (we got some snow last night & schools are cancelled). I'll keep it short again. (Same rules: 1--answer what you want to and 2--have fun!)

1. What is your favorite kind of sandwich? (the answer "whatever my wife is fixing" does not count)
2. What is your favorite item of clothing? (the answer "whatever my wife picks out for me" does not count)
3. What is the next date on the calendar that you are most looking forward to? (the answer "whatever my wife's favorite date is" does not count)
4. Have you ever glued your hand to something? (the answer "yes, when my wife made me" does not count)
5. Do you still have your wisdom teeth? (the answer "I did until my wife pulled them out" does not count)
6. Who was your favorite Bible class or school teacher? (the answer "my wife" does NOT count!!)
7. Bonus: Do you have a suggestion for a new Blog Title? I'm keeping the verse above but am unsure about what to make the title. (By the way, if anyone has me listed on their blogroll with "Adventures with My Guys" on it, by all means, just leave it that way. I'm still recording some of our adventures, so it still applies.)

My answers:
1. I love sandwiches! Even easy PB & J! My favorite, though, is a Monte Cristo sandwich, especially served with some strawberry or raspberry preserves.
2. My favorite item of clothing is a new long-sleeved Valentine shirt from Target. ... but ask me again in a few months & I'll have a different answer.
3. The next date I'm looking forward to is February 14. It's doubly fun for me: V-Day AND my half-birthday!! Woo hoo! I'm partying! (I'm also going to attempt spaghetti again for our church's Wednesday night supper, so it'll be quite the adventurous day)
4. I don't recall having ever glued my hand to something ... however, when using Krazy Glue, I inevitably manage to glue two fingers together.
5. I still have all my wisdom teeth. My wisdom teeth, however, are unusual in that I have only 3 & one of them is a baby-sized molar (I call it "my mini-molar").
6. My favorite teacher of all time (both school & Bible, as it happens) is Dr. Ross Cochran, from Harding. I had a lot of good Sunday school teachers, but my favorite is a tie between Mrs. Stockman & my mom. My favorite school teacher was either Mr. Cutler, in 4th grade, or Mr. Smith, my senior physics teacher. (So, apparently, you can choose as many "favorites" as you'd like)

Huh?

2007-02-06T10:25:00.000-05:00

School was delayed for two hours today, due to "dangerously cold temperatures this morning."

Huh??

I mean, I'm not complaining or anything. I think it's a great way to get a small break but not have to miss a whole day, a day which we might have to make up later in the year.

But have you ever heard of such a thing? I guess there are kids that stand at the bus-stop for a while before the bus gets there, so it'd be good to not have them waiting out in temperatures below 15 degrees. We're kinda spoiled. Since Nathan's bus stops right outside our house, when it's really cold I let Nathan stand at the door until the bus pulls up & then run out. Our bus also passes our house twice, so if he missed it the first time, or if she didn't stop & wait for him, he could go out & catch it the second time around.

I don't recall ever having school days delayed for cold temperatures when I was a kid!! And I walked to school when I was in elementary school (not barefoot, but there was definitely a rather large hill to walk up on my way home)!

I was also glad for Dan that he got the chance to sleep in a little (though instead of sleeping in a long time, he got up still somewhat early to get some work done that he'd otherwise have to do after school). I sorta wonder if it's hard for teachers to plan a day that's shortened. Maybe it's harder to squeeze in all you have to do. Or maybe the children are extra rowdy from the excitement of having a shorter day, so it's harder to keep the class in control.

Another one:

I was noticing on the calendar that is in Nathan's folder that the teacher has on February 19, "School Closed for Virginia Heroes Day."

Huh??

I haven't looked into that, maybe some of you could help me out. When did President's Day get changed to Virginia Heroes Day?? I think the folks in New Jersey might think that's a bit strange, don't you? I'm kidding, of course!

But, seriously, what is this Virginia Heroes Day?

And, finally, I leave you with a very silly email my friend sent me this morning. Hope it's new to some of you ...

The Shoe Box
A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box.

When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000. He asked her about the contents.

"When we were to be married," she said, "my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll."

The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness.

"Honey," he said, "that explains the dolls, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?"

"Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling the dolls."

Wrappin' it up

2007-02-05T08:44:00.000-05:00

You guys are so great. It was such a treat to get online this morning and read all the new comments on my blog. How fun! If you haven't already done it, check out the comments for the last two posts; you will get a lot more from those than the original posts! I love the insights you shared on Clean House, Happy Heart. As Trey Morgan reminded me: it's important to remember that whereas we clean our own house, the "heart-cleaning" has to be done by God. Not only that, but Jen and Marcia pointed out that it's necessary to allow God to continually keep us clean. How do we do that? By allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. The Spirit reminds us what is necessary to keep our hearts clean. And the Spirit's dwelling keeps Satan out.

In Pop Quiz, Lisa-style, a lot of you shared some interesting tidbits about yourselves (some of which --ahem, Brian--we might have preferred not knowing). Some of you even alluded to some secrets from a past life that have me very curious indeed (what in the world Malia did that she won't "divulge," why in the world Bill has to carefully avoid revealing a secret identity). If you haven't already taken my little survey, it's pretty short (only 5 questions!) and you'll definitely get extra credit for creative answers (like these 3 stinkers).

Hope you're having a great day!!

Clean House, Happy Heart

2007-02-02T22:45:00.000-05:00

I love a clean house. The only problem is ... I'm lazy, I don't like to clean, I'd rather be doing ... anything else: reading, blogging, getting a cavity filled.

Oh, and then there's the Derek-factor (what my mother-in-law calls "putting fires out all day long"): in the same length of time I've spent cleaning a mess, the 2-year-old-tornado can make twice as much mess.

Since we've been in this new house, cleaning has been a bigger chore than ever. There are just so many rooms to keep up with! Of course, the size of our house does not explain why it seems the pile of dirty dishes has grown and why there are more piles of laundry lined up in the basement to be washed. But, nevertheless, the pile of dishes has grown, there is more laundry to clean, more dust has gathered, more beds have to be made (no, wait, that was the bad dream I had last night).

But we've also entertained more since being in this house. Our old little house was just not all that practical for having guests over. Yes, I let the size of the house embarrass me and keep me from having people over very often. But it really was difficult to have guests over when we didn't even have a table to offer. The 3-person rotation around the coffee table was a bit embarrassing. And larger groups just didn't fit. I mean, we had 4 people over once. They didn't seem too comfortable sitting on each other's laps, so we decided maybe we'd not have that many people over again.

We've had people over quite frequently since being in this house. Having more people over means the house has to be cleaned more often. Since I really enjoy having guests to entertain, I have not minded the extra cleaning involved with that. In fact, I am glad to have a reason to get the boys & Dan cleaning more often, because I really really do enjoy having a clean house.

As I was vacuuming this morning, getting ready to have the Mommy Gang over for lunch today, I was pondering the similarities between having a clean house and having a clean heart.

Having a clean house makes me feel good in so many ways. Not having a clean house makes me grumpy.
Having a clean house energizes me. Not having a clean house overwhelms me and makes me feel lazy.
Having a clean house allows me to relax. Not having a clean house makes me tense and easily upset.

What does having a clean heart mean? And what is the difference in our lives when our hearts are not clean?

When I was done vacuuming, I wrapped the cord up (are there any other tidy-cord-wrapping-obsessive people out there?) and started to roll the vacuum back to the hall closet. I noticed how the wheels left tracks on the carpet & how someone could see those tracks & assume I had vacuumed, even though I could leave those tracks without having vacuumed. Obviously, it would be a bit crazy to run the vacuum around the room without it turned on. You're putting some effort into making it look like it was vacuumed, why not have the vacuum on and actually pick up all that dirt so that the carpet will be clean? All anyone would have to do is get down a little closer to the carpet and see that it was not actually clean.

Still with me?

Why would we put some effort into cleaning ourselves of sin, but instead of staying clean we return again and again to the same old sins? Our hearts stay dirty because we just don't turn the vacuum on and truly rid our lives of those sins.

I can't think about a clean heart without this psalm running through my head:
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)

Pop Quiz, Lisa-style

2007-02-01T23:32:00.000-05:00

Okay y'all, if you've been around a while, you know the drill ... if not, here are the "rules": 1--Answer what you want to. 2--Have fun.

What kind of toothpaste do you use?
What's your favorite salad dressing?
What's your favorite type of music?
Have you ever been out in public in your pajamas (as an adult)?
What's the most daring thing you've ever done?

So, that's it! Short & sweet, I kept it easy for you. I'll leave my answers as a comment for anyone that's curious.

Thirteen Things I Love

2007-02-01T07:42:00.000-05:00

I doubt I'll remember to do a Thursday Thirteen post each week, but for this week, I wanted to do a post about some of the things I love. It is, after all, the month dedicated to love. There are MANY things I love, but here are some of the things that I was thinking about this week ...

Finding the item I'm looking for at the store ... and being pleasantly surprised that it's marked down!
Snow ... and a surprise day at home with the whole family.
Warm weather.
The sun.
My husband ... of course.
Holiday t-shirts at Target.
Friends who seek you out so you can sit together (I'm talking about this girl!)
Sleeping in til 8 (not today unfortunately, but maybe some other day).
The song "The Joy of the Lord."
Friends who will talk to you about something that's bothering them so there isn't anything hanging in the air between you.
Jeremy's sweet cheek kisses & Eskimo kisses.
When Nathan is really helpful around the house (there are advantages to 5-almost-6-year-olds after all).
Derek's big hugs.

Wow, that list went too fast. I'll have to do another Love Post so I can share some more of the things I love. Hope you are counting your blessings today too!

Heaven

2007-01-29T23:24:00.001-05:00

Thanks to those of you who chimed in on my "Question." I've been really interested to hear what others have to say about that. I think I have an uncharacteristic (for my age/generation) longing for heaven. I don't think that any other believer would deny that they look forward to heaven. But in others my age, I don't see the "I just can't wait!" feeling that I have. I readily admit, however, that I don't do the feeling justice; I don't always portray that feeling to others. What I see in others, & what they probably see in me--to my shame--is a love for this world. I see us holding on to what we have here. I see us not wanting to be separated from our loved ones (both saved & not saved), as if our lives aren't going to be infinitely better when we're there. I can understand us wanting and hoping that the Lord waits until everyone we love is also saved. After all, doesn't 2 Peter 3:9 tell us that even God Himself is patiently waiting to return so that as many are saved as possible? As a mother of young children, I absolutely and sincerely pray every day that the Lord will return before they get too old and the possibility of them falling away gets stronger. Perhaps that means I don't trust in myself enough to do a good job of raising them. Of course, when you see the children of strong Christians fall away, and you think, "wow, I would have never thought that so-&-so's kids would turn away," then it's harder to trust the job you would do yourself. But then, as a parent, your main focus on the earth is your children, so I suppose it makes sense that you would think of them first, and want Christ to return when the likelihood of them being saved is the best.

I still remember when my brother was younger (I'm thinking maybe around 5?), he was really bothered by the thought of eternity. I think he was even scared by it and had nightmares about it. I'm pretty sure he has gotten over that, at least the scared feeling he had, but it wasn't too long ago that I was talking with someone around my age who had similar feelings. She just wasn't sure she wanted to imagine what it would be like to live forever. The only comforting things I could offer her are that God has promised us that it will be better than we could possibly imagine. I could tell her what the Bible says about heaven, and we can believe that what the Bible says is what heaven will be. We have to stop thinking that the things that bother us here on earth will follow us to heaven. Even the things we love here on earth will not follow us to heaven, and we need to understand that it's okay. We're not going to need them, we're not even going to want them, or maybe God actually will have them there for us. To reassure my 4- & almost-6-yr-olds that it would be okay that their toys here would not be going to heaven with them, I told them that God would make sure that whatever toys they would want when they were in heaven would be there. Yeah, that was a little roundabout way to avoid saying outright, "Um, you might not have your toys in heaven."

I have just started studying more about heaven. I don't really know all that much of what the scripture says. Considering how much I look forward to it, that's probably not good. I do understand that in my most fantastic dreams I couldn't begin to imagine how wonderful it will be, and that is really exciting to me. When you were younger, and Christmas was about 20 days away, then 15 days away, closer, closer ... did you not pray or at least wish that Christmas would come sooner?? When your family was planning a trip to Disney World, did you not hope that you could wake up & find that the day of your departure had arrived?

WHY are we not wishing, praying, for Christ to come sooner??

*** Update*** I want to send you all over to Trey Morgan's post: 10 Top Reasons I'm Excited About Heaven. It's a great list, one that'll get you excited about being in heaven, if you need some extra enthusiasm. I think it's really funny that his introductory paragraph is a bit like my paragraph with Christmas. Thanks for giving me that link, Trey! I hadn't gotten back that far in your posts yet.

(Have to give 'im credit: The above picture was taken by my dad, shortly after moving to Florida. Isn't that beautiful??)

Schmorgasborg (did I spell that right?)

2007-01-29T22:27:00.000-05:00

Okay y'all. If you live in the area & you want to check out Amelia's (especially on Tuesday, Friday or Saturday nights), you can go to valpak.com or hokiecash.com for coupons. At valpak.com, you have to put in the zip or city/state and then go to Dining, then to Amelia's. At Hokiecash, you go to Restaurants or Pizza & Subs, & then click on Amelia's. Hope to see you there! (Incidentally, if you didn't already know about these websites, & you live in the area, there are quite a few coupons you might want to check out. Though why you'd go somewhere other than Amelia's, I won't understand)

Because of my picture, I temporarily (for about 8 hours today) had "a twinkle in my eye & a smirk on my face" over there <------ next to my picture. Since I was asked (& I'll let the asker remain anonymous for now, at least until she comes out with any other wisecracks) if there was a reason for the twinkle & smirk (i.e., a baby on the way: "Should I be making you another blanket??" Ha!), I will be removing the twinkle & smirk comment. I will remove the actual twinkle & smirk (in other words, the picture) when I have another good one with which to replace it. The twinkle is really only on my glasses, and not actually in my eye, so the saying doesn't quite fit anyway. Yet another example of a silly idea gone bad.

Did anyone else notice the VT colors that inadvertently appeared on the lists to the left?

Paula is going to be conducting a survey about Christians and Depression. She would like to get as many people possible taking the survey, so if you're interested, go to her post here, where she describes her survey more and you can get her email address. Unless I'm wrong, I don't think she wants to only survey people who have suffered from depression, and she said the survey will be conducted online confidentially.

"Not everything that happens to us is for us." Bill pointed this out on his blog the other day. I love that! In fact, it makes me feel good to think about that. It helps my selfish side learn to think about why things might be happening that are not necessarily for me, but through me, for someone else.

It's one of the reasons I'm so excited about working for Amelia's. I mean, I'm not being totally selfless, as I do expect to make some money while I'm at it. But I did think about working there when I heard it was new and slow, and thinking I could help them out. And now it's my mission!

What ways have you found yourself being used by God in order to help someone else?

Question:

2007-01-29T11:29:00.000-05:00

What do you think about praying these words?

"Please Lord, come quickly."

Anything wrong with that, or is it a good thing to pray?

As Preacherman would say, What do you think? Share your thoughts.

New Restaurant, Same Great Taste

2007-01-27T23:09:00.000-05:00

Well ... tonight was my first night at a new job. Remember I told you about Amelia's?? You'll have to re-read this post if you forget the background, but a teeny bit of the background is that the owners of this new restaurant are some people I used to work with at an Italian restaurant in Radford, next town south of us. We went to eat there (at Amelia's) back in December, I offered to work a few nights a week if they needed help, and then I didn't hear from them. This past week I stopped by to remind them that I'd like to work there if they need help & they said that they had tried calling recently but the line was busy (which happens all the time) & they hadn't called back yet. So they were glad I stopped in, yes they wanted me to work for them, when could I start?? Yay! Then the owner called last night & asked if I'd be able to work tonight because their girl that was going to be quitting soon decided that last night would be her last night & now they were going to be short tonight.

Remembering what it was like when I used to waitress, I usually come home late from my shift but am pretty wound up & not ready to get straight to bed. So ... I'll probably be blogging a lot after my shifts now. :) I ought to have some interesting stories to share occasionally.

The place is not nearly as busy as the old restaurant where I worked (yet), but since there were only 2 of us waiting tables tonight, I still did pretty well. The food is great, probably because Buddy (my boss) was one of the best cooks Sal's (the old place) had. They also have pretty much the same menu, and they use a lot of the same food suppliers. I was disappointed at first that they didn't have the same tiramisu, but the one customer I managed to bully into ordering dessert said the tiramisu was excellent, so I guess it'll be okay. And she wasn't even saying that because I was twisting her arm behind her back.

The other server that was working tonight was a nice kid, probably a good waiter. The two cooks and one dishwasher were all really nice. I'm not sure if one of the cooks speaks english (at least not much), but she smiled a lot. Buddy's mother helps out on the weekends, & she's really sweet. It's a really good restaurant, & I'm going to enjoy working there. If you live in my area, you should check it out!!

For some reason, I gave myself a mission: to help get the restaurant really busy. I don't know why I think I can do it, but I'm gonna try. At least I'll try & tell everyone I know that they should stop in sometime. I really like it. Aside from the mean customers we had tonight that complained about a large group of people with kids that ran all over the place and got on their nerves (in his words, "this isn't Chuck E. Cheese!"), I enjoyed all my tables. Buddy's grandparents were in with some of their friends, and his grandmother told me that I was really good and she was glad I was working there. And she tipped well. :)

I finally made the connection tonight ... Buddy's wife is Ame (which I had incorrectly spelled in my other post). Ame ... short for Amelia. And I was thinking they had just picked a pretty name for their restaurant. Duh.

They are also due to have a baby in April, and will need a babysitter beginning in August. Ame is a teacher and plans to return to work next year. They are interested in having me watch the baby. So, that will give me the choice to get out of waitressing come fall if I have a desire to do so. Or maybe I'll just cut back my hours to whenever I want to work. I won't need the money if I have another baby full-time. Anyway, it's nice to have options.

On another note ... anyone out there ever have hermit crabs? Any tips for me? And oh, did I mention I got Dan a hermit crab for Christmas? My plan was for him to take the hermit crab to his classroom, but I think after he noticed how Stinky Pete & I had bonded while I was keeping him in hiding before Christmas, he decided to keep him home. He does eventually want to get a tank with several hermit crabs in it, and then I'll probably have to say goodbye to Stinky Pete. But until then, I love my little hermit crab!! I mean, Dan's little hermit crab.

Are you wondering about Stinky Pete's name? We were all debating about what to name him. Several good names were thrown out. Nathan: "Herman." Jeremy: "Peace" (I really have no idea, so don't ask). Dan: Doozy. I thought maybe Jeremy meant "Pete," so I started calling him that. It's kinda stuck. Dan hasn't said whether or not it will officially remain his name, but since I'm the only one who talks to him anyway, I think it's going to stay "Pete;" but Dan & I occasionally throw in "Stinky." It was a character in Toy Story 2.

What do you all think of the new layout? I tried a different one yesterday, but something was off with it so I scrapped it. Started fresh. I like this better, but what do YOU think?? I was going for "colorful."

AAAGGGGHHHH! Pray for me!!

2007-01-26T23:24:00.000-05:00

Pray for all of us! We have some sickies over here. I am about to throw up myself over how disgusting all this clean-up is. Okay, you don't wanna know all the details. But you missed me, huh? You wondered where I've been, right? Well, we had a great week, up until this morning, very early morning, when Derek started throwing up every 15 minutes or so. That lasted until about 7 when we finally slept until 8. But then the other boys were up (Dan was long gone by that point & I guess I was dead to the world when he left because he says he said goodbye & kissed me, but I do not remember). Nathan said he was not feeling well, so with Derek's eventful night, I didn't even think twice about having Nathan stay home from school, which turned out to be a good thing. Though they made it through most of the day without much ado, they have each begun again since being in bed tonight. So ... yeah ... we're in for another long night. Pray for us!

We did have a good week, as I said before. Especially Thursday. We had our adopted family over (2 families plus 4 college kids from church) and also our new campus minister for some yummy mexican & fun games. I just hope we didn't have a bug floating around our house that the rest of them picked up too!

I have lost track of how many times Derek & I have changed our clothes or how many times I've changed bedding. Believe it or not, Dan has Nathan sleeping on the kitchen floor right now. I think we should have put Derek there too while we were at it. He's the one who's more likely to not make it to "the yucky bowl."

I'm disappointed that we're not going to have our special get-together tomorrow night. I was planning on having Tanya & Jonathan & kids & Brian & Terri & kids over for dinner. Then I was going to surprise them with cake & ice cream & send them home with a nice little gift. It is Tanya's, Brian's & Terri's birthday week. But now I can't do it.

I'm sad.

Then again, I'm going to be a walking zombie tomorrow & won't possibly get everything done I'd want to get done before having company over anyway. So it's probably for the better. We have piles of disgusting laundry in the kitchen, spots on the futon that I can't get out (why, oh why, did I not put something down under us when we slept there last night?????), clean laundry that I managed to get done this morning is on the living room couch, throw-up rags & buckets strategically spaced throughout the house, etc.

And I might not ever be able to eat one of Bevin's Oreo balls again. Not that she's the one who made them last night, but they were her recipe that I made. But I probably won't be making them again. I saw a bit too much of them last night, if you catch my drift. Not feeling too fondly toward them right now.

Whoops, I gave you the details anyway. There goes half my readers.

Six Word Story

2007-01-23T16:07:00.000-05:00

Thanks, Dee, for tagging me! I was intrigued when I first saw this on Marie's blog. So here's my six word story:

"Do what I can, then relax."

I'm going to do the tagging a bit different. If you want to make up your own 6-word story, post it in the comments (follow Dee's & Marie's links to get an idea of others' stories). I'd love to read all your stories! Of course, if you want to post it on your blog as well, you should, and then tag others!

Observations of a Good Day

2007-01-19T23:06:00.000-05:00

Today was a great day.

(***Though I may not publish this for a few days, I actually did write it on the 19th.***)

It was one of those days that everything just felt right. Fridays are often like that ... I don't necessarily have to get up early to be ready for children coming over because they're not coming over. (I do, though, have to be up early enough to get Nathan ready for school, which is still too early in my book) I can run a bunch of errands that I wasn't able to earlier in the week, & it can be a lot of fun to hang out with just my two younger guys, who are really great. We have a lot of fun.

Today the air was cool and even cooler when the biting wind blew ... and it blew hard! That's one of the things that'll get you (and your hair) around here--the wind. I guess 'cause of the mountains we're surrounded by -- though those of you out West would laugh at our description of mountains!

I let Nathan sleep in this morning and drove him into school instead of making him catch the bus. Then we drove over to the church building where we met Miss Carolyn, someone I am remiss in not having already discussed here, but I will save that for another day. Miss Carolyn played with the boys while I typed up the bulletin. I also got to spend a little time with our new campus minister, Seth, and I am excited about having him working with our congregation. After that we went to the post office (finally got the Bulls' Christmas letter in the mail!), the bank (with a stack of checks that had been waiting for a couple of weeks to be deposited!), then to Burger King. The boys, of course, were most excited about that! We ate and then played with several other children in the ball pit & the lone slide. I believe I've mentioned this particular BK in another post. Oh yes, here it is: this post and this post.

At BK, Derek dipped his tomatoes in ketchup ... Isn't that a bit redundant?

The tomatoes came from a sandwich that he said he wanted instead of the usual chicken nuggets. Just how much of the sandwich did he eat? The tomatoes and the chicken, of course.

I think I could have gotten him the chicken nuggets, given him the tomatoes that Jeremy took off of his chicken sandwich, and saved myself 39 cents.

In the car, after BK, Derek saw one of those short buses & shrieked, "Look! A baby bus!!"

I thought I'd have to pull over because Jeremy & I were laughing so hard.

Derek just loved that he made us laugh; never mind the fact that he had no idea why exactly we were laughing.

After BK, we went to Wal-Mart where several interesting things happened.

We ran into Mr. Lamb, a neighbor who I don't think recognized me, being that I was outside of the neighborhood; and we ran into Mrs. Bailey, another neighbor who I don't think recognized me, being that her husband, Mr. Bailey, wasn't there to remind her who I was.

The older man behind me in line was in one of those scooters that has a basket attached to the front. I didn't think it looked like he could reach to get his items out of the basket & onto the conveyor belt, so I offered to help him. Jeremy saw me & came over & helped too.

Now, if that example of Jeremy's doesn't make you want to do more for others, I don't know what will.

The man in the scooter kept telling Jeremy, "thank you, young man," and then he thanked me "very much," & I desperately tried to think of the words I wish now I had practiced to make an impression on him for God, and all that came out was, "It was truly my pleasure" with a big smile.

I'll probably never see him again and it makes me sad that I didn't say the right thing.

Upon paying the very nice cashier, and telling her to have a wonderful day (I really am trying to make a positive, Christian impact on others, y'all), I realized Jeremy was nowhere to be seen.

PANIC!!

Ever see a movie where someone is turning around in circles looking for something & the camera is circling that person at an even faster rate & you just feel the panic that's rising in the character's chest?

I totally felt like I was in a movie. I was just turning, turning, getting more & more panicked, until I started speaking Jeremy's name & then saying it louder & louder. Then I heard him, "Here I am." But I still didn't see him!

Laughter.

I looked down.

Jeremy was under the cart (or "buggy," as some would prefer)!

I nearly yanked him out until I remembered to calm down. Oh, wow.

At that point, I looked up and saw our neighbor, Mr. Bailey (see above). He said he recognized my voice calling out "Jeremy," so he came over to help me find him. We had a good laugh (...sorta...) and then caught up on how our Christmases went & trips we took afterwards. Mrs. Bailey came over & said, "Hi, Linda." Mr. Bailey said, "Lisa." Mrs. Bailey said, "Lisa. I don't know why Linda came out. We know so many Lindas." (Really, she is pretty cute. And I don't know her first name either)

Derek fell asleep on the way home. And then continued to sleep for a record 3 hours (seriously, the kid never sleeps more than an hour & a half at naptime--he's a bit like my Dad with his need to be up before the sun in the mornings & up well after normal people would like to be asleep at night--I'm only halfway like that). While he slept, Jeremy played outside for a while & I finally put up my bird feeder, which was a Christmas present from Terri, & a windchime that my Mom gave me (I had to get hooks from the store before I could do that). Then Jeremy went to bed, I finished putting away groceries, & then tackled the gnomes & fire salamanders in Harry Potter 3.

[In a slap-my-forehead, "Duh" moment, I just figured out why y'all are telling me so often I should write a book: because my posts are so stinkin' long, you feel like that's what you're reading anyway--might as well make it official, right?]

When Nathan came home from school, he sat in my lap & watched me play HP some more. We were going to go to my nephew's basketball game tonight, but Dan got home too late because I didn't tell him this morning that there was a game. So hopefully next week we'll go. We had a lot of leftovers in the fridge, so dinner was not too involved to prepare ... another blessing to add to the list.

All in all, it was a very good day. The kind of day that has you feeling everything's right with the world. The kind of day that has you smiling from ear to ear at every stranger you pass. The kind of day that has you whispering every 30 seconds, "Thank you, Lord; thank you so much."

Post # 100

2007-01-18T09:01:00.000-05:00

I'm going to take this monumental moment to reflect on my purposes for blogging, and I'd love it if you want to share some of your thoughts & purposes as well. These are questions I've been very curious to hear others answer as well, so please speak up!

1. What was your initial reason for blogging?

My friend Tanya encouraged me often to start a blog because she thought I had funny stories to share about my kids, like the funny stories she shared about her own kids. My first post, in October 2005, which only received one comment--thanks, Dad--and has since been deleted (so don't go looking for it), was a recipe for Chocolate-Peanut Butter bars that I had just made and found to be really good. That obviously had nothing to do with my kids, and it was several months later (July 2006) that I finally posted a second time. At that point, it was my goal to tell funny kid-anecdotes and document some of their milestones. Still, my first few posts had more to do with the process of moving into our first home. But I finally got around to the kids, though not as many funny Jeremy stories as I thought I'd have (some day I'll remember to share with you the original Jeremy story that Tanya thinks is hilarious--it is, actually).

2. How has that purpose changed over time?

When I realized how exciting it was to have comments left on my blog, I tended to write more posts that would apply to others and draw comments (I know, I can be really self-centered--I'm working on it!). When I discovered devotional thoughts on other people's blogs, I thought, "I should do more of that," so occasionally I have a spiritual-application for you to enjoy (I'm also not very original). :o) Mainly, my blog has a lot to do with entertaining others. I've always known how much I enjoy being the center of attention, but I didn't realize my penchant for entertaining until recently. It doesn't help that many of you tell me you enjoy my stories & think I'm a good writer -- my ego enjoys that, but the part of me that knows I should exhibit a modicum of humility wishes the compliments would end!

3. Why do you read other people's blogs?

As with most people, I initially read only the blogs of people I knew. I already knew about Laura Bull's missionary-experience-blog, and when I began reading her blog regularly I discovered comments left by other old college friends that blogged. When my dad started posting regularly again in Florida, I discovered the blogs of other preachers and, through them, the blogs of other Christians that wrote posts centered on Scripture and devotional thoughts. I also found Malia, an old friend from several years ago at camp, through Tanya, who wasn't even a part of my life at the time I knew Malia, but is related to Malia through her husband (it IS a small world, after all). It wasn't long before I started exploring and reading about the lives of people I did not know. Through all these people, I have made several new blogging friends, most of whom I have never met in person, but whom I definitely look forward to meeting someday (if not here on earth, at the great "reunion" in heaven). This all has led to an extensive list of blogs I try to read regularly, and eventually to the point where I decided (just in the last day or so) that I need to not go looking for more blogs to read, but try & keep it limited to the blogs I already have bookmarked.

4. What type of blogs do you read, mostly?

I may start reading another blog because of an insightful comment the author left on another blog I read. Sometimes I stay with it, other times I find that we disagree on a few important-to-me things, so I don't keep up with it. A part of me wants to befriend people through blogging that are really different from me (& I do that to some extent), but another part does not like to do that. Here's why: say you have a real-life friend that you disagree with on a certain matter. You may be close enough to them that you can talk about your disagreements. It will probably not come between you (depending on the matter, I suppose), and you can talk about it reasonably with each other and agree to disagree. Maybe you can even influence each other for the better on matters about which you disagree. With blogging-friends, it's a little different. I'm not about to go to someone else's site, especially someone I don't know, and leave a comment on a post that I disagree about. I don't believe I have a right to do that. It's not the same as face-to-face evangelism or talking to your brother in love. It's public and not at all what Jesus had in mind when He was quoted in Matthew. But, it's also really difficult to continue reading strongly opinionated thoughts that contradict your beliefs when you can't say anything about it to try & teach the truth. Does that all make sense?

5. What other benefits have you gained from blogging?

*One thing, that amazes me a little, is I've learned a little about computer code for formatting websites & such. I don't remember much from my one basic computer science class in college, so I've had to learn quite a bit, which means knowing Malia has come in quite handy!
*I am also amazed by the hugeness of it all: people in Nashville, & the UK and Australia and Bolivia & other places so distant from me put their thoughts on their computer in their hometowns, and I, on the other side of the world, sit here at my computer in my hometown and read their thoughts. Amazingly, incredibly, we find each other & are impacted for the good by each other.
*I have learned a lot by reading other people's studies into the Scripture and their applications for life.
*We Mommies can share ideas about child-rearing; and, likewise, we can ask questions, post them on our blog, and have suggestions posted within minutes.

Of the Blogs I regularly read ...
7 are by family members (both Bliss-side & Leichner-side)
6 are by friends that currently live nearby or have recently moved away
11 are by old college friends or camp friends
1 is by someone I got to meet face-to-face after meeting in the blog world (Hi Emily!)
15 are by people I consider friends but have yet to meet face-to-face
8 are blogs I "stalk" (i.e., I don't leave comments & I think they are unaware I read them)

And several of you tell me that you read my blog occasionally, even though you don't regularly comment or have blogs of your own ... though I might talk you into it someday. :) I am so grateful when you tell me you read my blog and what it means to you. Thank you for that.

Happy Birthday, MOM!!

2007-01-18T00:17:00.000-05:00

Today was going to be my first Thursday Thirteen. Not that I plan to do it every Thursday, but I had one all ready to go ... until it occurred to me the other day that today would be my Mom's birthday.

So I decided to try a Thursday Thirteen dedicated to Mom. So ... if I can do it ... here are Thirteen Things I Love About My Mom. (hang in there til next week and I'll give you another Thirteen List)

Thirteen Things I Love About My Mom:
1. She's pretty. I can remember thinking that as a young girl, & I think that even more so today. I hope I told her that when I was younger, because I know how special it makes me feel to hear it from my own kids. But if I didn't tell you then, Mom, I'm telling you now ... I think you're pretty!!
2. She's a great wife. She showed me a great example of following the lead of her husband, even when disagreeing; treating her husband like he's a king; loving him steadily & faithfully for almost 28 years, through good times and difficult times.
***UPDATE: Though I KNOW Mom & Dad were married in '76, when calculating I was using my birth year of '79 for some reason. Since my miscalculation makes it sound like I was born around the time of their wedding, I'd better correct that. They've been married almost 31 years. (Sorry, Mom; thanks for being a good sport)
3. She's a great mom. Despite living on a preacher's income in an expensive place to live (NJ), it was a priority for her to make it on that income so she could stay home with her children until they were all in school. She believed that was best for us, so we managed. And I believe the three of us are better for having her devoted teaching and training at such a young age.
4. She sings well. One thing I am really ashamed to admit ... when I was in middle school, I thought my friends' moms were cooler than my own. So like my 2 best friends' moms who sang alto, I decided to try alto so I'd be different than my own mom. I'm sure it had a little to do with competition (my mom could sing loud, & I knew I couldn't be heard over her if I sang the same part). But it was also part preteen-rebellion. Today, I would Love, Love, Love to be able to sing as well as my mom.
5. She is very crafty. She was always very creative when helping with our school projects (until she realized she was helping more than she should be; and, boy, did we miss her help!). She always had cool activities for her Bible classes and crafty projects for us kids to do. I also remember one snow day we had, we put some snow in the freezer & later added chocolate to it & had chocolate ice cream ... sorta. That doesn't really have anything to do with being crafty, but just something cool she did when we were home one day from school.
6. She paints really well. She started taking painting classes when I think I was still in high school. I love the stuff she paints nowadays. If you are the lucky recipient of one of her projects, you know it took some time to do it.
7. I love her handwriting. Surely she realized that I tried to copy her handwriting, because mine started to look just like hers, though not nearly as pretty and cool.
8. She passed on her love of chocolate. Some might think it's weird that I would list that as a thing I love about Mom. Here's the deal: I remember, when we lived in Randolph one time especially, one of us kids (I actually don't think it was me, though it could have been, but one of my sibs will probably remember) saying to Mom, "Hey, you smell like chocolate!" She had been sneaking chocolate, & we were onto her! Only later would we realize that she hid it so we wouldn't be able to pig out on her secret stash, but so she could have a (much-deserved) special treat on her own. The funniest part about that, is that lately I've realized I do the same thing. I have some hiding places around the house so Dan & I can have the chocolate, but not hear all day long, "Mommy, can I have some more candy?" Once my kids smell or hear about candy, there's no stopping the whining!! I imagine it was the same for my mom. The other day I almost got caught & was worried one of my kids would smell my breath. I can hear it now: "Hey, you smell like chocolate!"
9. She's not ashamed of her gray hair ... so neither am I! Yes, I have some gray hair (and I will KILL my sister for noticing & making a big deal about it!! and I could hit myself for telling my father-in-law!) but this post is not about me ... She has never colored her hair or hid the gray; her hair is so beautiful that it makes me hope mine looks good when I'm her age too. Thanks to Mom ... I'm not ashamed.
10. She knows good grammar & she ain't afraid to use it. I like the fact that I knowed proper ways of tawking & writin', thanks to the fact that my mom cared enough to not let me slack on my speech or writing habits. I may have a time or two thought she was a bit too stringent, but I appreciate it now for dern tootin'! (She also hated the word "darn") And, by the way, speaking of good writing ... Mom has a blog that you should check out if you haven't already. She isn't as obsessive about writing as often as I am, but when she writes it's either about her grandkids, or it's meaningful stuff that you will feel blessed to share in.
11. Mom is very organized. This may drive Dad nuts at times. It drove me nuts at times. Now? I Wish, Wish, Wish that I had picked up more of her organization skills for running a household.
12. Mom was able to accomplish a most difficult task: revealing to me her weaknesses and struggles while at the same time showing me a great example of how a Christian should lean on God to overcome those struggles. One example is in the way she would always pray when she slipped on something. She showed me with her words, that it's important to pray often about things that burden you, that you know you do wrong. She showed me the importance of accountability and confession.
13. Another difficult task accomplished: living with me through my teen years. Despite those difficult years, my Mom shows me no less love than she would if I had been a perfect daughter. I jipped her of having a good relationship with me when I was in high school & most of college, but (if I didn't know better) I'd think everything was always honky-dory, because she doesn't seem to hold it against me. I KNOW I don't deserve that!

That was a lot easier than I thought it would be!! I could go on & on, actually, but I said it was going to be thirteen things. I hope that didn't embarrass you too much, Mom. I may have revealed a weakness or two of yours, but I promise only half a dozen people actually read this anyway. I love you, Mom, and Happy Birthday! Yay! You're going to Disney- ... I mean, Epcot!

(A rare photo of my Mom -- which means I need to get on the ball & start taking more! -- with Dad at Disney World. Ignore the goofy-looking Dad; I think it was late & he was tired. Ha! Just teasin', Dad)

(By the way, this is Post # 99!! Get ready for the big 1-0-0! Woohoo!)

Hope you're in the mood for some light reading ...

2007-01-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

I recently read a few great posts that I want to share with you. They encouraged, inspired & challenged me to change a few things about myself.

Paula's "Are You Ready to Change the World?"

Spiritual Oasis: "Be a Doer, Not a Stewer" on procrastination

Maria's "People Watching" on being a person easily recognized as a Christian

Keep up the great work, guys!!

Questions You Were Dying To Hear Me Answer

2007-01-15T15:25:00.000-05:00

So John tagged me for this meme. I don't know if that means that he likes me or he just doesn't want to bother any of the other bloggers he actually does like so he picked me instead. But I'll play along.

1. I’ve come to realize that my ex-(boyfriend) --- is a good person, just not my person.
2. I am listening to --- kid shows on TV.
3. I talk --- a lot.
4. I love --- easily.
5. My best friends --- are my family members.
6. I lost --- my wallet once.
7. I hate it when people --- are selfish.
8. Love is --- powerful.
9. Marriage is --- hard!
10. Somewhere, someone is thinking --- "I wish I could be like Lisa."
11. I’ll always be --- about 10-years-old at heart.
12. I have a crush on --- John (there, that'll show him to tag me).
13. The last time I cried was because --- a song at church really moved me.
14. My cell phone --- is nonexistent as long as Dan hates cell phones.
15. When I wake up in the morning --- I'm very, very angry.
16. Before I go to sleep at night --- I get in bed.
17. Right now I am thinking about --- how much John likes me & wishes he could be like me.
18. Babies are --- a thing of my past ... except my friends' babies who I can always give back when I'm done with them.
19. I get on MySpace --- when I want to feel 15 again (how often do YOU want to feel 15 again?).
20. Today I --- actually slept until 8.
21. Tonight I will --- probably check my email & blogs for the 8th time.
22. Tomorrow I will --- have more kids in my home than the Old Lady who lived in a shoe.
23. I really want --- world peace ... but peace & quiet in my house for about 15 minutes each day will do ... for now.

So I tag Bevin, Trey, and Marie. But, really, if any of you want to do it, go right on ahead!! And I encourage you to give yourself a good laugh today & not take any of the questions too seriously. :)

***Update: Bevin, Marie & Trey have all done their Questions, so go check them out! Thanks, you guys, for playing along! It made me smile to read your answers almost as much as it did to see that John tagged me. :) (Just ignore the title to Trey's post, he didn't really mean that)

His & Her Ice Cream Scoops

2007-01-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

I don't know what it is about the big one, but Dan always reaches for that one so he can have huge slabs of ice cream in his bowl; whereas I prefer pretty little scoops. Even before I had my super-duper Pampered Chef scoop which uses the heat from your hand to warm up chemicals inside the scooper to slice through ice cream easily, I preferred a smaller, rounder scoop. I just don't get Dan's attraction to the slab-maker.

Catch-Alls

2007-01-13T22:44:00.000-05:00

I have a closet by the front door (which is rarely used--the front door, that is), and when I get a pile going around the house & then I need to clean & don't have time to go through the pile (usually of papers), I put the pile in the front closet. So my closet is looking pretty horrid right now. I had intended to spend time on it today, but instead I cleaned the basement play room, did some laundry, dishes, straightened other areas of the house, cooked some meals, typed up the church bulletin, etc., and I did NOT get to the closet, which I didn't really want to get to anyway.

Dan gives me a hard time (& rightly so, though I don't want you to tell him I said that) about all the "catch-alls" I have going around the house. There are stacks of mail & school papers & other such things on the kitchen counter. There is a stack on our computer desk. There is another stack in our room. ETC. Why do I have to have a catch-all? Why can't I just get rid of stuff or file it right away so I don't have to have these piles all over the house?

And why can't I get to my front closet & clean it out so I don't have to worry about guests coming over & asking if they can put their coats in the coat closet?

Do you have a place like that in your house?

What's another word for "Boring"?

2007-01-12T00:20:00.000-05:00

I'm going to commit what Emily would say is a "no-no" & ramble a bit (actually, knowing Emily as well as I do, she probably would not use that phrase).

I have been playing a Harry Potter computer game for the past week. My parents got me a set of HP computer games for Christmas (after I revealed in my Weird post that I am an HP ~~freak~~ fan). The set includes a game for each of the first 3 movies and also a special Quidditch game. I have completed the first game (& so has Dan) & am now close to the end of the second. I'm not usually all that into computer games (that's Dan's territory), but when it gives me something to do while I await the fifth movie and seventh book, I'll take it. Even Jeremy & Nathan have given the games a shot, though they are a bit above their level. In my current game, I'm in the Chamber of Secrets, closing in on the bad guy. The music, the surroundings ... all of it have me so creeped out that I had to stop playing (which is why I'm blogging, of course). I will play some more tomorrow or another time when it's not so dark out.

I am also exploring programs that let me know when a blog I read has a new post and one that lets me know who has been reading my blog. I still have a lot to learn on those, but it is interesting to discover there is more to blogging than just writing posts every once in a while. Who knew? On the tracker program, I discovered that someone came over to my blog from a new friend, Colleen. She lives in my area & I found her blog & let her know, so she's been reading mine apparently. And she linked me today on her Thursday Thirteen post. So, thanks, Colleen! I like Colleen's Thursday lists. I might just give it a shot one of these days. Looks fun.

I really thought my crossword post would be a big hit, but not that many of you seem interested. I guess I'll have to find other subjects to entertain you with. Did you not realize that I was being a bit silly? Maybe it didn't sound the way I thought it would. Sheesh, you're a tough crowd. At least my siblings, my minister & an old Harding buddy were somewhat interested. And Maria too: thanks & blessings to you. I don't know why you said my post spoke to you, but I appreciate it. Maybe for Paula's sake I'll write a Sudoku post next, with step-by-step instructions for completing a puzzle. What do you think, Paula?

I'm having the Mommy Gang over for lunch again tomorrow. Looking forward to that. We all are. It's fun to get together with a small group of friends that can all find some common ground: our kids. Who doesn't like to ~~complain~~ ~~vent~~ ask riveting questions about the things their children do every now & then?

We had snow the other day. Did it make its way up to NJ?? I keep reading comments on other blogs that Brian has left about how disappointed he is that they haven't had snow yet. Apparently, they are pushing back a record each day that they don't have snow. Anyway, back to VA weather ... we had a dusting, not much at all. Nathan got to come home from school an hour early that day. Then, apparently where Dan teaches the roads were worse, covered with ice. The roads seemed fine here, so Dan didn't think anything of it, but when he got to school he was the only one there. He called & had me check to see if they were cancelled, which of course they were. He might usually be one of the first ones there, but the ONLY one there?? When Dan was on his way home I felt like a little kid who was just told his best friend is coming over. I was excited! Until I realized that he'd be spending most of the day working. :( We still got to spend more time together than usual.

So I've been blogging pretty much since June of last year (that feels so weird to say! "last year" when I'm talking about 2006). I did give it a try October 2005, but only posted once, so let's not count that. I have 94 posts ... yeah, you can expect a big celebration for the 100th post. We're having a party over at my place, so come on over (in other words ... stop by my blog & leave me a comment ... even if you never have before!). Yeah, I am so trying to get more of you to leave comments!! Seriously, a bunch of you have told me you read my blog. Why not just leave me a short comment once & say hi? You don't have to have a blog to do so.

If you're still waiting on a Christmas card from us ... well, just wait a little longer. The second batch of cards will be going out soon. What? Did you say it's the middle of January?? Hmmm ... maybe I'll just wait til next Christmas.

Hope you're having a good week & looking forward to the weekend! I'm going to leave you with Jeremy's idea of the purpose of a telephone pole: "A tall thing that holds wires for birdies to sit on."

My Sentiments Exactly

2007-01-08T22:08:00.000-05:00

The crossword has been an integral part of our marriage. We can’t remember when exactly we started doing crosswords together, though we do remember doing them when we lived in Searcy (AR), so it’s been at least since the beginning of our marriage. However, at some point the crossword began to come between us and we haven’t done one together in a year and thirteen days ... give or take.

We still occasionally get each other crossword books for Christmas. They make a great stocking stuffer. Especially the one I found this year; a book called “Sit & Solve Crosswords,” which is in the shape of a toilet. You can guess where the author imagined you’d be sitting as you solved these puzzles. The introduction of this little book caught my attention:

Solving crosswords is, at heart, a private activity. Sometimes two people will solve a crossword together, but there is always negotiation involved: How to hold the clues so both solvers can read them. Who gets to hold the pencil. That sort of thing. It’s like sharing a sandwich without cutting it in half first–it can be done, but the people doing it had better like each other a lot.

So, given the essential solitary nature of crosswords, it only makes sense to combine solving them with ... another private activity. That’s where this book comes in. Why spend your time staring at a tile floor when you could be staring at a crossword grid? (Francis Heaney)

My sentiments exactly. I’m a multitasker in every way.

I truly thought the challenges Dan & I encountered while doing crossword puzzles were unique. I don’t know of anyone else who solves puzzles with another person. So I’ve never discussed with someone else the problems that can arise when you attempt to do it. (Have you ever tried it?) I was amazed when I read this introduction because it was like she’d been in our home watching us try to do puzzles together! Unless we were doing a puzzle when Dan was in the bath (I know, something you didn’t really want to know) in which case I’d obviously be holding the book & doing the writing and Dan wouldn’t even care if he couldn’t see the clues, there was always competition about whose turn it was to write the answers and therefore who’d get to hold the book.

Another challenge we’d encounter were the “rules.” Dan likes to do a crossword straight through the Across clues, then the Down clues; then, and only then, you can jump around from Across to Down and back. I, however, like to do an Across clue, then do the Down clues that will use the letters I just filled in. OR, if I’m stuck on an Across clue, I’d like to look at the Down clues to see if that will help me solve the Across clue I’m stuck on. Dan acts as if I’m cheating to use Down clues to help with the Across. I maintain, however, that a crossword can be done however the solver wants to do it; the only form of cheating is looking in the back of the book for the answers.

But that just goes back to Francis Heaney’s introduction. Doing crosswords truly is a private affair, best left to an individual. It doesn’t necessarily have to be relegated to the bathroom, but maybe trying to do it with a partner is expecting too much.

After all, you wouldn’t want a silly little crossword puzzle to come between you and a loved one.

(By the way, if you left a comment on my last post, be sure & check out the comments section again because I actually remembered to respond to each of you. God bless!)

Jeremy is 4!

2007-01-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Jeremy turned the magical 4. No, wait a minute, 5 is magical. Never mind. But Jeremy is 4 so that means it is special!! He has grown SO MUCH in the last year. Despite his few speech impediments that, I think, make it seem like he's younger, he has a really great memory, and he's a really smart kid (I'm not biased or anything). He is super athletic and coordinated. Sometimes the moves he does make me think he should be a gymnast. One day at Nathan's soccer game he was asked to play with the kids because they were down a few players. Jeremy kept up with the team like he was their age.

Here are some pictures from our recent vacation. In the second picture, behind where Jeremy is standing, on the other side of that tunnel, is where Jeremy was standing in the first picture ... and where he jumped off several times! His feet were at a height that's at least as tall as I am (that's 5'7").

I was going to try to include a few memories from this past year that are special Jeremy-memories, but the post was getting too long. So I will just tell you a little about what Jeremy is like (as if I don't already talk about each of my kids enough so that you don't already know him). This is going to be pretty long anyway, though, & it's all right if you aren't interested in reading the whole thing. It's mostly just so my kids & I can look back in a few years & see how they've grown. But if you do decide to read the whole thing, I hope you enjoy it!

*I don't want anyone to misunderstand and think I'm playing favorites here, but by far Jeremy is the easiest of my children for me to get along with. I would venture a guess that it's because we have different personalities, whereas the other two are more similar to me, but since Dan has an easier time getting along with Jeremy too (& they have more similar personalities), then I am out of guesses. I suppose Jeremy is just one of those people that gets along with others. I don't know if the same is true for people outside of our family, but it seems like he really enjoys being with us & wants to get along with us. A year ago he was more shy and did not want to play with certain people that didn't get his or Nathan's stamp of approval. But he's come a long way in the past year. Even in the past few months, since Nathan has been off to school, he has grown and shown a lot more leadership.

*Jeremy also bit into the whole Santa and Mr. Elf thing this year & that was so much fun. He remembered each morning to look for Mr. Elf. He talked about Santa and what he was doing all the time.

*Jeremy does some funny things like points with his middle finger & mispronounces things which make me laugh a lot. He asked me yesterday why flowers don't have eyes. Having no idea where this was going I replied, "well, because God didn't make them with eyes." To which he replied, "But they have eyes on Dragon Tales!!" And then, "I guess God made those flowers with eyes." "Um, yeah, Jeremy, right on." (No, I'm just kidding, I didn't say that)

*The best memory I have is from last week at Disney World. Jeremy was so cool. He totally would have gone on Space Mountain if he were tall enough (I'm so glad he wasn't, though). He did barely make the cut-off for Thunder Mountain, & he loved that ride. He asked to go on it whenever we asked what ride he wanted to go on next. At one point, Dan & I thought he wanted to ride Dumbo, so we waited for half an hour for the dumb ride, where Dan & I took Jeremy & Derek on silly little elephants that crawled along at about 5 mph. When we got off & I asked him if he liked it, he said, "not really. That was boring." So I guess Dumbo was too tame for him. Dan & I are still arguing about which one of us misunderstood something Jeremy said & thought he wanted to ride Dumbo. Of course, from his trips to Storybook Land with Oma & Pop-Pop, I guess I should have known that the faster & harder & scarier the ride, the better it was viewed in Jeremy's eyes. Go figure!

*Something special about Jeremy is that he was born two weeks late, which put him two days ahead of his cousin Hannah, who was born about two weeks early. Also, the morning he was born, it was discovered that Dan's grandfather Pop Dreher had died in his sleep. Pop had just taken a trip down to see us (along with many other places in the country) the summer before, & it was wonderful to have that time with him. He was one of those people that said what was on his mind & didn't care what anyone thought. Sometimes it didn't come out right, but a lot of times he made you laugh a whole lot. I didn't have the opportunity to know Pop very well, but I do know that he had one special daughter (Dan's mom), and she wouldn't be the person she is today if it weren't for Pop. (Do I get brownie points for that?) I think it's pretty special that Jeremy was born that particular day (even if at the time I would have preferred a couple weeks earlier). He also shares a birthday month with other special relatives, such as my mom and grandfather, Grandy. While in Florida we celebrated both Jeremy's & my Grandy's (Jan. 3) birthdays. That was fun! I'm glad we got to do that together. And since I didn't get together a special post for Grandy this year (I'm just waiting for the big 8-0!!), here's a Happy Birthday to you, too, Grandy! We love you.

*Jeremy also loves to take pictures. All 3 of my kids like to use the camera, but Jeremy especially seems to have a passion for it. If I let him loose with the camera, he could be at it for hours. One day while I was on the computer blogging & checking email, he took pictures around the room for over an hour. It came out to be about 100 pictures, some of which I actually saved. :) Some, though, such as the pictures he took of Derek's diaper, got trashed. He took a few pictures recently of himself that I thought I'd share:

That second picture reminds me of when he was born. I jokingly said, "I'd better count all his toes to make sure he has 10," & I discovered his second & third toes are linked a little higher than most, almost like they're webbed. Of course, with that, we had all our relatives examining their toes more closely to see which of us gave Jeremy that gene! So that's just another little funny something about Jeremy.

And now I have a 2-yr-old, 4-yr-old, & almost-6-yr-old. There's something sweet about all those even numbers. :)

Run, Scott, Run!

2007-01-02T13:52:00.000-05:00

There is a show on PBS for kids called "Between the Lions" that I love. I think it is so funny. Granted, most of the humor is lost on preschool kids. The show has a series of segments that focus on teaching children how to read, or at least about the sounds that make up words. One segment is about Scott, Dot, and Chicken Jane. The segment is usually a variation of the three of them--a brother, sister, & their chicken--on a little trip. Scott & Dot are usually oblivious to some sort of imminent danger (like a bull about to charge), to which Chicken Jane tries to alert them. She squawks & jumps around & tries to get their attention. She resorts to scratching something in the dirt to the tune of "Run!" Sometimes she is writing "Scat," sometimes it is "Scoot." It goes along with whatever the theme sound is for the show. Today's word was "vamoose." So she is writing, Dot is reading it aloud, & she reads, "va- ... moose. Va-moose. Vamoose, Scott, Vamoose." They finally get it, "Oh, we need to vamoose," and so they do. Just in time to avoid the danger, they get out of the way. BUT, Chicken Jane is almost always left behind in the danger. So the theme song, "Look, look, see, see, coming down the lane. Here comes Scott, here comes Dot, here comes Chicken Jane," always shows poor little Chicken Jane with her arm in a sling and her leg in a cast. It is so hilarious.

That's it. You can draw your own analogies from that (I'm sure there are plenty). I just think it's funny. Are you Scott, Dot, or Chicken Jane in your own life?

Dear 2006,

2007-01-01T21:24:00.000-05:00

It's been real, it's been fun ... AND it's been real fun.

Thank you, 2006, for all the great times you gave us. You took my family to Gatlinburg with the Leichner clan, where we had fun in the cabin, on the race track, at the golf course (mini-golf, that is), and with the Dukes of Hazzard gang.

You put us in a new house. You found Dan a new job. It was a big year for others that we're close to moving and getting new jobs too.

You introduced us to some new neighbors that seem to be able to tolerate us pretty well.

You took good friends of ours to Montana, where they can be closer to family and impact another campus ministry at the same time; and you helped our church family find a young, enthusiastic minister to replace the old one. We are looking forward to a good start with him in 2007.

You helped me find old friends and new in this cool medium we call blogging.

You drove us to NC and FL to visit our family members' new houses.

You sent my oldest baby on a big yellow bus for his first year of school. And you brought a few friends to come stay with us during the day this fall so we wouldn't miss Nathan as much.

You kept us company as Dan spent longer hours than ever at work.

You hung around as Dan & I filled our sixth year of marriage with fun times and good friends.

You stayed with Dan as he began his first year of teaching and helped him gain some confidence and control over his classroom.

You took four of us to New Jersey for a big Thanksgiving celebration with Leichner-Dreher family members we haven't seen in much too long.

You sent us on our "merry" way to Florida for a special Christmas celebration with the Blisses/Mohundros.

You took us to Disney World (oh, yeah).

You said "goodbye" last night with such grace we hardly realized you had passed (perhaps that was because we were already asleep).

You gave us many more memories than I could possibly list.

Today, I have been married to my husband for seven whole years. Who knows how much longer we have together. But as I was letting him beat me at our new air hockey game tonight, I decided that I WILL enjoy every minute of it. I will treasure the years we have, the days, the months. Every minute of it. I will make 2007 better than 2006. And 2008 better than 2007. And I will hold my babies close until they are young men who need a little distance. Then I will hold them close in my heart. And I will praise You throughout it all. Because 2006 didn't really give me anything, but it was You, Father, who gave us everything. And I will praise You forever and ever. You alone are worthy of our praise. Thank You, Lord.

Alligators, Manatees, and Mickey Mouse ... Oh My!

2006-12-30T17:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's an alligator! Yikes! We went to Blue Springs on Thursday & saw lots of manatees (below) and a couple alligators. Pretty cool! When the river cools down (the St. John River, that is), the manatees stay in Blue Springs, which stays a nice 72 degrees. Ahh, what a life!
Yesterday (Friday), we drove to Orlando at 7 AM or so & went to see Mickey, Minnie & the rest of the gang. What a cool day! Actually, it was pretty warm. :) But it was cool too. We spent nearly 15 hours walking around the park (and taking turns carrying the boys). Phew! We're pretty tired! We hit all our top picks for the rides and attractions and saw parts of the Disney parade three separate times! I think the majority of us loved Mickey's PhilharMagic the best. Dad & Derek missed out because Derek was sleeping. We also enjoyed Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's ride, and Thunder Mountain. Lots of others too, but those were the best. :) Jeremy & Dan stayed later than the rest of us & got to ride about as many rides in the last hour as we covered in the whole day! I need to credit Mimi & Gramps with "sponsoring" our trip ... what a treat! We are so grateful to them for doing that. (And I think Gramma & Pop helped too, indirectly, from across the continent. We love you both & are looking forward to seeing you in CA hopefully in a few months)

I was worried about how my tailbone would survive the roller coasters, and it did fine. Ironically, I hurt it a little on the third tamest ride in the park, Pirates of the Caribbean (the tamest are the Jungle Cruise Boat, which I will tell you about later because it's too funny not to tell you about, and It's a Small World ... of course). Near the end of Pirates, there was just a slight bump on which I bounced just a bit and landed at the wrong angle, thus feeling the pain in my backside. By the end of the day my feet were pretty sore & other parts of my back were aching, but my tailbone did fine. :) I know you were all concerned about it, so I thought I'd put your minds at ease. No worries! (Hakuna Matata, as we say here in the land of Disney)

I will post my highlights of the trip when we get back. Spending time with Mimi, Gramps, Aunt Loni, Uncle Trey, Nana, & Grandy is definitely top of the list. We are driving home tomorrow ... so sad! We will miss all our family. Hope you & yours had a great holiday & a nice break from school & work. See ya when we get back!

(**if you read my Mom's blog, these are the same pictures she took & posted of our trip to Blue Springs**)

Hello from sunny Florida!!

2006-12-27T13:10:00.000-05:00

Hey! We're all enjoying some time here in Florida with my folks. We just got in last night & haven't done much yet. But it's been good so far. After a LONG 12 & 1/2 hours in the car (so much traffic!!), we finally arrived last night, just in time for some pizza and clam chowder--yum!! After the kids went to bed we played a Shout About Movies game. I won't say who won, but I will say that the guys cheated.

We also had breakfast at Cracker Barrel this morning with Emily & Malia & Malia's husband & kids. Malia & Emily's parents live in FL too. What a nice treat! We had fun getting to know each other. I met Malia & David & their oldest at camp (Manatawny) a few years ago when Nathan & I went up to work Sr. high week. Malia also happens to be the cousin of a friend of ours from church. One more connection: when David was a kid, my grandfather preached at the congregation where his family attended. It's a small world! Malia & I have been reconnecting over cyberspace for the past few months, so it was exciting to see her in person again & a really cool treat was to meet Emily for the first time, who I only knew through blogging.

We are currently waiting to open presents (as soon as the turkey goes in the oven), but I just wanted to say hi. So ... Hi!!

There are only 2 of me!!

2006-12-23T23:40:00.001-05:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
2
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

There are 3 Daniel Leichners, 1 Nathan Leichner, 1 Jeremy Leichner, and apparently 0 Derek Leichners. Maybe Derek hasn't made it into the census bureau yet. When I was still Lisa Bliss, I was a lot more common--there were 74 of me. The last name Bliss is much more common--over 20,000 versus only 630 Leichners. And gee, I know most of them!!

Only Three Days Til Christmas

2006-12-22T21:03:00.000-05:00

well ... depending on how you count. Since we're near the end of today, there are really only 2 days & a few hours until the moment we are all awakened by Derek (who is always the first one awake when Dan's alarm clock doesn't have to go off). But on Christmas morning, we will all be too excited to be annoyed by the early hour. Honestly, I look back & don't know why it seemed like my parents weren't as excited as we were to be up so early on Christmas morning. I mean, I think I'll be glad when Derek wakes me up. When I peak one eye open, then the other, when I wipe the sleepies out of my eyes, when I stretch my arms, then my legs, when I give my brain a moment to follow the rest of my body to wakefulness ... I will think, "Today's Christmas!" and I will shake my sweet, slumbering husband awake (he's only sweet when he's asleep), I will hop out of bed, I will run to the other boys' room, I will throw open the door, I will shout, "Santa's been here!" and we will all laughingly run to the living room where Santa has left a zillion presents for all of us. I like receiving as much as I like giving ... when it comes to Christmas. Throughout most of the year, I can definitely agree that it makes my heart happier to give. On Christmas Day, however, I look forward to seeing what other people have deemed an appropriate & enjoyable gift for me.

I'm just trying to kill some time until 10 o'clock. I have to make another Wal-Mart run. I got something for Nathan that needs to be returned, & I have one more present to get for Derek & one more for my nephew Tyler. Wait til you hear what I got Dan for Christmas!! You have to wait a few more days in case Dan happens to read this (he doesn't usually, but has before, so I don't want to take a chance!)

But I've been thinking ... and we all know how dangerous that is. There has been a lot of hype about people trying to take Christ out of Christmas, about whether or not the church should officially celebrate the holiday (you know, like it "celebrates" Memorial Day & Labor Day & the 4th of July & President's Day--I jest), etc. I'm kinda getting tired of it. I know it's important to know where you stand on certain issues. I know a lot of things are important. But have we stopped to think that all the hype is mainly created by the media to ... make a bunch of hype?? The majority of average Americans (like you & me, I think) just want to have a good time, celebrate Christ's birth & life & death & resurrection EVERY day (I hope), & take advantage of having the day off by spending time with their family. Some people (not just the media) like to make a big deal about (what should be) small issues, & the rest of us get riled up about it. But should we??

Just something for you to think about. You can suffer along with me in our deep & dangerous thoughts. :) I don't care if you disagree & want to argue with me. Part of me is playing devil's advocate here. Go ahead, bring it on! :)

One more last thought. Wouldn't it be more convenient for us all if Christmas was officially celebrated on a certain day each year, rather than a certain date? You know, like Thanksgiving is the 3rd Thursday of November or whatever. Just a thought.

Have a great Christmas!! God bless you & your loved ones.

Steve, are you there?

2006-12-22T14:28:00.000-05:00

Steve Awtrey, if you're there & reading this, please contact me! I know the Leichners would like to say hi & know some of what's been going on with you. I tried accessing your blog & it wouldn't let me & I tried emailing you from your church's webpage & the email came back to me. You're hard to find!! My email is llleichner@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

Jibber Jabber and Musings from yours truly

2006-12-21T20:59:00.000-05:00

Ijkldfa kjkj fdakjl fda djfalsdkf, sdf jk ijafe adofij fajidf daflk ffdla.
(Translation: Derek has two ear infections so he didn't sleep much last night)

Jklfadi nilsdafoi kdfa i.
(Translation: And neither did I ... sleep much last night)

Oh, okay, that's better; I got five-year-old Nathan to do the typing so now I'm making sense again (of course, all you other sleep-deprived Mommys & Daddys understood me perfectly, now didn't you?! ... and the aliens that are hovering above my house also understood me).

Lots of thoughts runnin' through the ol' noggin today so bear with me ...

Question: How do you get a stubborn two-year-old to take his medicine?
Answer:
Materials needed: 2 adults, duct tape (or rope), jaws of life, drop cloth
Instructions: First, spread out the drop cloth. Whatever extra plastic you have around the house will also be useful for draping on the walls & furniture (really anything you don't want spewed with bubble gum-flavored medicine). One adult needs to clamp down on the child's arms while the other uses duct tape or rope to secure said child to the floor or chair or whatever is handy that is stationery. A vice might also work, if you have one. After child is secured, fire up the jaws of life ...

Okay, just kidding. Seriously, though, getting a stubborn two-year-old to take his medicine DOES require two adults!! What have you discovered works? I didn't have so much trouble with either of my other two.

I've always claimed I don't have much of an accent, & I've been told that before too ("Hey, you don't talk like you're from Joisey!")

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
Boston
North Central
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

What this means is ... my Mom did a good job of making sure I spoke words correctly (that's the English major in her). I find it very interesting that the Northeast accent is the lowest on my results (that's where I spent the first 18 years of my life).

Hey, I should be on the radio!! They could tell I have a good voice without even hearing it ... amazing! Just because I know how to pronounce words correctly does not necessarily mean I have a good voice.

Malia, thank you so much for that pumpkin bread recipe. I made it earlier in November, & I've been making it the past few days to give to people--it's been a big hit! Dan's not a fan of pumpkin stuff, but the kids & I went through a whole loaf in one day! You know what makes a great gift this time of year? Mini loaves of bread. Wrap it up in saran wrap, tie a ribbon around it, & voila! you've got a nice gift.

Have you had the holiday Oreos with red filling? Oh my goodness, I am telling you, even though it's supposed to have the same great taste, I honestly think they are better!! They are so yummy! I went through a whole bag myself the other day. No, just kidding. But it was close.

Quote of the Day
"Happiness: an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another." -Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

I think maybe there's something wrong with that assessment. I don't know, maybe it's just me ... or maybe not. What do you think about that quote?

Merry Christmas from the Leichners!

2006-12-20T08:48:00.000-05:00

Derek & Mommy testing out the angle (not close enough)

Oops. Too close, just a little too close (10 points if you can tell me what movie that line is from)

Jeremy & Nathan foolin' around

Oh, that'll do.
(I am not taller than Dan, by the way)

Fatuity

2006-12-19T09:28:00.000-05:00

Word of the Day
fatuity
Definition: (noun) Something that is utterly stupid or silly.
Synonyms: absurdity, fatuousness, silliness

I have a funny story to tell you. It was complete "fatuity." But it was funny. I'm over it enough now that I can share it.

We went to a RU women's basketball game last night, over in Radford. Our friend Corey is an assistant coach, and we like to go support him and the team when we can; plus it's good, free entertainment for the family since Corey gets us tickets. (Thank you, Corey!)

We decided to leave at half-time (even though I really hate doing that) because I was super-tired & needed to go to the store, and Dan still had some work to get done for school. Since Dan met me over at the game after work, we were in separate cars; so it was easier for us to split the kids up and go our separate ways--me to the store and Dan home. Dan took Nathan so he could put him in bed on time, I took Jeremy & Derek because it doesn't matter as much when they get in bed. Because all of the students are out of town for their break, there were not many people there, so Dan was able to park up near the building. I actually assumed Dan would park down in the parking lot, which is at a lower level from the building, so we could park near each other so I just parked down there. (I know all these details seem unimportant, but you'll see later how they all figure in) Okay, so at half-time we're walking out to the cars. Dan & Nathan head to the right, the rest of us head down the stairs to our car. I was carrying Derek, my purse, and a backpack with toys for the kids. Jeremy was walking next to me. We make it down about two steps before Jeremy gets in front of me just enough to trip me up. Derek starts to slip out of my hands; I move in some way to readjust & get him back up; my purse slips down my arm, and unfortunately I trip on it.

We all start to fall. In an effort to keep us from going forward, I think I pulled us back.

And I landed straight down HARD on my tailbone. I have never felt such instant pain before! The worst pain I've experienced is labor, & you know that's less of a shooting pain & more of a gradual increasing of pain until you feel like you're going to burst. Last night I instantly felt like I was going to burst. It was awful. (Okay, maybe when I had kidney stones, that was pretty bad too, but you have a way of forgetting past pain & thinking the pain you're in now is the worst ever)

Derek is crying for some reason, & I feel bad that I can't really help him because I just can't move at all, so I start yelling for Dan. Fortunately, since we left the game early & no students are in town, there really weren't many people there. I think there was one guy up near the doors of the building, but that was it. I'm aware of what idiots we looked like, & how I was making it worse by calling out for Dan, but I just couldn't move & I guess I was a little scared because of how much it hurt. There's 3 people on the ground, at least until Jeremy gets up; two of them are crying like little babies--though only one of them really is a baby.

So Dan finally gets over to us ... my hero. I don't think he really believed he was hearing me yell his name at first. Then when he finally did realize it, he came over--but not in a real hurry. Anyway, I know he must have rolled his eyes and wondered what in the world I had done now when he got over to us. Oh, and to make matters worse, Jeremy is laughing at me because I'm crying (I know, nice kid), & then Dan yells at him, has him sit down on the stairs. So now he's crying too (& louder than either of the other 2 of us), so we really do look like a strange bunch. But Dan took care of us, and asked if I was okay. Then he walked us down to my car, obviously because he didn't trust us to make it on our own. :) I'm limping at this point, & it hurts to sit down, but I get in the car & grit my teeth & make it home. You can forget about going to the store now!!

I'm feeling much better today. It still hurts, but not quite as much. I don't think I slept very well, but I'll survive. :)

So, I don't know why I wanted to share that silly story about myself, except as a friend pointed out to me yesterday (in a totally different context), it's easier to confess to strangers than to friends--and apparently it's easier to tell a silly story about yourself to people who didn't actually witness it. Despite your assurances that you did indeed look like a complete idiot, they are probably not imagining it as bad as it was. It was pretty embarrassing at the time, though.

Hope you had a good laugh at my expense. You learned a new word, anyway. :)

Only 6 days til Christmas!!

Merry Kiss-mas

2006-12-17T22:15:00.000-05:00

After Nana's comment on the Christmas Survey, I remembered that a sort of odd place where I have decorations is my fern. I call it the Christmas Fern. In fact, I've changed the song from "O Christmas Tree" to (yes, you guessed it) "O Christmas Fern." A good friend of mine gave me this fern for my birthday, & I get comments on it all the time. I say "comments," rather than "compliments," because I think when people see it, they aren't sure what to say. It's huge & healthy & gorgeous (for a fern, anyway). And now it has some lights in it (which don't show up in the pictures) & a beaded garland & some small ornaments. Dan laughs at it, but I'm proud of it. What do you think??

I am just about through with my Christmas shopping. I think it's the longest I've gone. The first couple of years after Dan & I were married, I started shopping during the summer, & was done by Thanksgiving. But it gets later & later each year. A few weeks ago, I said, "Oh no! I haven't done any of my shopping yet!!" Of course, you know how frustrating it is to even be out with all the extra traffic on the roads & shoppers in the stores. ERRRRR!! It can try even the most patient people. In the past few years, I have come a LONG way to being more patient on the road (yeah, I'm a little bit proud of that). Still, when idiots abound on the street, it is hard to stay calm. So I want to leave you with some encouragement to do just that ... stay calm. Take the extra second at the stop sign to make sure no one's coming. Take the extra moment to check your blind spot before changing lanes. Better yet, don't change lanes as often (the other lane's not really going any faster anyway). Put more space between you & the car in front of you. Don't pull out into an intersection if traffic is backed up enough that you might not make it through (the main source of my own frustration the past couple of days). So many more people are out on the roads, & so many of those people are in more of a hurry than usual. Take your time. The extra seconds, even minutes, are worth saving you from an accident.

I want you all to have a safe and happy holiday. Love your family and friends, & forget about the stress and frustration. I'm sending you some hugs & kisses to share with your loved ones. His blessings to you, now & forever.

2006-12-16T01:12:00.000-05:00

I think we should change our clock-system. I mean, when you're up until 1 in the morning, it's not really morning yet. You're still thinking "night." So why not say "night-time" with a different system? Instead of 12 being the change-over hour from PM to AM & vice-versa, let's start with changing our current 6 AM to 1 AM. I mean, no one normal is up before 6 anyway, so that works. 6 AM will become 1 AM, 7 AM will be 2 AM, 8 AM will be 3 AM, & so on. Likewise, 12 PM will now be 7 AM. I don't think that's too confusing. You're not confused, are you? We can handle eating lunch at 7 AM. The only problem I foresee is that we're very used to the terms "12 noon" & "12 midnight." We could still use "noon" & "midnight," but we'd have to drop the "12." And that's okay too. We'll get used to the new system eventually. By my grandchildren's time, saying "12 noon" or "12 midnight" will date you like saying "records" or "LPs" dates you today. They'll look at us like we just fell out of the sky when we say "12 noon."

"No, Grossmater" (that's German for Grandmother, you know), "12 noon no longer exists," my grandkids will say, "the new system is much better. 7 AM is noon. Duh." (rolling eyes) "You're weird ... weirder than Grosspater" (that's Dan).

Don't they know that I'm the one who created this new system? Sheesh.

So why am I still up after 1 AM?? Let me enumerate the reasons:
1--Well, I had lots to do to get ready for a baby shower I am hosting tomorrow morning. Presents to wrap, stroller to assemble, cake to bake & decorate, petite cheesecakes to make, etc. Mixed in with all that was family time: dinner, picture-taking (for my not-yet-sent-out-I-know-they're-late! Christmas letters), bath, game. It was a pretty nice night.
2--I am obsessed with blogging. I add an average of one new blog to my favorites list every week. I don't like to miss anything, so I am checking ALL the blogs on my favorites list 2 or 3 times a day. If no one has added a new post, that might take me 15 minutes or less. But when you have 100 blogs to read (no, not really, more like 87) what are the chances that there will not be a new post to read? And, of course, comment on.
3--After spending an hour on the computer, my shoulders & upper back start to cramp up. So I get up, realize there's a mess in the kitchen, feel bad that I've been spending time on the computer rather than cleaning (it's my job, you know), so I get to work. I wash the dishes first.
4--I wipe down the counters.
5--I wipe down the stove. Oh, there's a mess under this burner. I'd better clean that up. The coffeepot has been accumulating dust because it's been a while since I've used it (with shoulder pain waking me up at 4 or 5 each morning, why would I need coffee?). I'd better wipe it off.
6--Wow, look at all the dirt on the kitchen/dining table. Yuck. Wipe that down.
7--Would you believe it's been a week or so since I cleaned under Derek's booster seat? Cleaning under his booster requires turning the chair on its side to get the crumbs out onto the floor, which means ...
8--I need to sweep ... the entire kitchen/dining area.
9--While doing all these chores, I think of a post I'd like to write, so here I am, back at the computer.

Is it any wonder I'm still up at 8PM?? (Trust me, you'll get the hang of my new time system)

It's the Holiday Season

2006-12-14T23:16:00.000-05:00

With the whoop-de-do and hickory dock
And don't forget to hang up your sock
'Cause just exactly at 12 o'clock
He'll be coming down the chimney
Coming down the chimney
Coming down the chimney, down!

(I hope you know that song, otherwise you're thinking I'm really strange--just like I thought Dan was really strange the first time I heard him sing it)

Okay, I've been waiting to post this "survey" for a while. Some of you have been getting it in email form, so don't feel pressured to answer again here. But, if you want to, I'd love to know your answers. I'll post my answers below, in case anyone cares.

In 10 days I will be preparing for Santa's arrival! I am so excited!

Getting to know you (sing it with me!) getting to know all about you
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
2. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
3. When do you put your decorations up?
4. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
5. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
6. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
7. Can you ice skate?
8. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
9. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
10. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
11. Do you have music playing while decorating your tree and house?
12. What's your favorite Christmas song?
13. Artificial tree, pre-cut tree, or cut-your-own tree?
14. Do you have Christmas decorations in your bathroom? Or, where is the oddest place you have decorations in your house?

My Answers
1. we actually drink egg nog--something Dan introduced me to--I love it! But I also really like hot chocolate, which I drink all year round.
2. white lights
3. I usually put up decorations the first week in December, then the tree is done Christmas Eve
4. Sweet potatoes, definitely--I think because they're a lot like dessert
5. I don't remember when I learned the truth about Santa, but I know that my sister likes to tell everyone that I told her Santa's secret after I found out, even though she probably would have had a few good years left to enjoy it
6. My family used to, but Dan is dead set against it. He thinks it's cheating. BUT, just yesterday I got the boys some PJs & am hoping to persuade Dan to let me give them to the kids on Christmas Eve. Since I went outside our clothes budget for them, he might be pretty upset. And I don't think he'll let me use the toy budget for them. If anyone would like to contribute to the PJ-fund, you can send donations to First Leichner Bank, Account #333333. Just kidding. :)
7. Every time I ice skate, which is about once every 3 years or so, I start off shaky but warm up to it & get better within an hour or two--just about when it's time to leave!
8. Despite the hectic-ness of the weeks leading up to Christmas, I love the relaxed way we've been doing Christmas the past few years. Just soaking it up & trying to enjoy the boys & their excitement as much as possible.
9. I have to choose ONE?? Nana always makes divinity & saves some extra for me. I also love chocolate pecan pie, tollhouse pie, cookies, apple pie, pumpkin pie......
10. As crazy as it is since I put up a big stink about it a few years ago, now I love our unique tradition of getting our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. It gives us something to do the day before Christmas, anyway. :)
11. Uh, yeah! (said with valley girl voice)
12. What Child Is This?
13. Cut-your-own every year!
14. Yes, I do have some in my bathroom. A tree-shaped bar of soap & some towels with Christmas trees on them.

Welcome to the world, Aiden!

2006-12-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

Here he is! My cousin Kevin & his wife Mel had a baby boy today in Minot, North Dakota (I can't say "Dakota" without a Canadian accent). Aiden Robert Mackey is 9 lbs 10 oz & 20 inches long! Big boy!! Kevin's email to everyone dubbed him "Big Mack." I hope that's not a nickname that will haunt him for life!! ;-)

Congratulations, Kevin, Mel, Alexis & Aiden! What a sweet family you are. I hope we see you soon.

It's not fair!!

2006-12-12T13:58:00.000-05:00

Why does everyone I know from Florida INSIST on rubbing their warm weather in my face?!

You know, I don't really appreciate that, Mom ... Dad ... Loni ... Matt.
You're the reason I want to live with warm weather. At least before I knew people who lived in Florida, I didn't know warm weather actually existed during the winter months. But I can no longer be ignorant about it. I know there is warm weather to be had somewhere. While you're having 70-degree weather & putting your Christmas lights up wearing t-shirts & flip-flops, our weather looks like this in Virginia.Isn't that such a gloomy picture?

For the record, I don't really mind snow ... when it accumulates enough to do something with it!

Christmas Thoughts, Amelia's, and Hot Water Heaters

2006-12-09T10:45:00.000-05:00

Dee posted this article written by Ken Neller (a Harding guy) last year. It really helped me articulate some of the feelings I have about Christmas & celebrating Jesus' birth this time of year. If you're interested, you should check it out. I think you'll enjoy it.

In case you didn't read my Miscellaneous & Extraneous Thoughts post the other day before I edited it, I'll just inform you that I had vented my feelings about some Christmas carols that we sing--my number one pet peeve is when we sing songs that have to do with the wise men visiting Jesus as he lay in the manger. The Bible says that the magi found him in a house, and our carols make the assumption that he was still laying in the manger. Unfortunately and, well, stupidly, I used a verse to refute it, that really didn't at all. I wasn't paying attention in my haste to get the post published & I used the wrong verse. Malia corrected me on that & added some of her own frustrations about the assumptions we make & sing about that relate to Jesus' birth. For one, the wise men being "wise." She's heard a presentation that these men probably dabbled in black magic. I think that's what she said--she may have to correct me again! I actually deleted that section of my post & her comment, & now wish I had saved them so I could remember what she said. Basically, the point I got from Malia, & I'm grateful she shared it with me: It doesn't really matter what inaccuracies we sing about or talk about (because there are plenty of liberties we've taken to fill in the details), as long as we remember the reason we're singing about Christ's birth. Without His birth, there would not have been the amazing, exemplary life He lived on this earth, there would not have been His ministry, there would not have been His death, & there certainly would not have been His resurrection, which is the miracle that still saves us 2000+ years later. What should be our focus?? Really, you should check out that article. :)

Yesterday, I had a pretty ordinary experience that turned into something rather cool. The furnace guy returned to our house to finish his repairs on the furnace. When the boys & I were in NJ, the heater stopped working. When I returned I called to have it fixed. I recognized the guy that came but couldn't place him. Yesterday, though, I remembered. He is a regular at the restaurant where I used to work. So I asked him, & he said that he had remembered me. We talked a little about the old restaurant, which he doesn't seem to like as much anymore. He asked me if I had been to Amelia's, a new Italian restaurant here in town (the other restaurant, Sal's, where I used to work, was in another town). I said that I hadn't. He told me that Buddy, a guy that used to cook at Sal's opened it up with his family. He also said that the service wasn't that great. After he left, Amelia's remained on my mind. I know this is really strange, just bear with me. I got this idea in my head that they could use my help, & of course, I would benefit from helping them with more income. So I talked Dan into going there to eat last night. (He wasn't very excited about going out & spending money when we don't have that much coming in, you know?) It was pretty slow. I think they need to advertize more. No one seems to really know about it. Anyway, my furnace guy was right, the service was so-so. This girl we had, she really seemed to be trying, but she was so quiet & timid. I wanted to offer her advice!! Buddy was standing behind the counter & saw me...& recognized me! He came over to say hi, & introduced me to his wife, Amy, who I actually knew--she also used to work at Sal's. But I guess Buddy didn't remember that we worked there at the same time. SOOO...I told them I could help out if they needed me, & Buddy said that they had a full staff, but some that weren't necessarily working out, so he would think about it & get back to me. Later on, while I was paying, Amy asked me if I'm staying home with the kids. I said yes, & that I babysit some too. (Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that Amy is pregnant, & due in April) So a few minutes later she & Buddy came back over & said that they are actually looking into childcare. They have someone to interview in a few days, but if it didn't work out, they were wondering if they could call me about it. So, wow!

I really felt God leading me there yesterday. I don't know how to explain it, because I didn't actually hear a booming voice from heaven telling me to take the family & head to dinner at Amelia's, I didn't even hear a quiet voice in my head--just my own. But after dinner, despite my disappointment that I didn't have a job offer firmly on the table, I felt like I was supposed to go there, offer to help out, agree to consider babysitting their child, etc. And, actually, we ran into a family whose son was on Nathan's soccer team. They ended up sitting next to us & we enjoyed chatting with them. Maybe they were the reason we were there?? I don't know. It was interesting. And I get the feeling there is more coming...whatever my reason for needing to be there yesterday, it's not come to fruition yet. Kinda exciting!

We've been getting Christmas cards in the mail the past few days--I'm really enjoying them. Thank you, Auntie An, for all the great pictures! I CAN'T believe some of you actually send your cards out so early! No, I haven't gotten there yet! I haven't even started, except that yesterday I bought 60 stamps--hoping that's enough! I can never remember from year to year how many cards I send out. To be honest, something this year feels strange about sending out a newsletter. Now that I'm doing this blog thing, it seems like my newsy letter will be redundant to those who read my blog. Will any of you mind? Probably not. Still not sure, though. I might have to be creative--something I'm not very gifted in.

This morning, Derek has been feeling pretty sick. It wasn't just that he woke up around 4 and wanted to be with someone (that "someone" was me & I ended up sleeping in his bed with him so we could let Dan enjoy sleeping in--those little toddler beds in the shape of a car are pretty cute until you try fitting your 5'7" frame into one--maybe it's time to get a guest bed). After waking up at 7, he was already back asleep by 9. Dan wanted to go over to the school to get some work done & he took the two older boys with him. I laid Derek down & hopped in the shower. AWWWWW... peace, quiet, & all the hot water I could ask for. Nice. I don't know much about hot water heaters, but I do know that ours isn't very good. We only get about 1 & 1/2 hot showers in a row. If you want a full shower, & you're the second one to take one, you have to wait an hour after the first one. Most mornings during the week, I need to get in right after Dan so I can be finished before the kids are all up. But that gives me about 30 seconds. If you're a guy, you're thinking, "no big deal." If you're a woman, you know that isn't enough time to wash your hair, let alone add conditioner, wash your body, face, shave, etc. My priority is to get my hair washed & then whatever else I have time for I consider an added bonus. So today was like a BIG GIFT!

Hope you have all the hot water you need on this frigid December day! Only 16 days left until Christmas!!

Miscellaneous & Extraneous Thoughts

2006-12-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

I think it's about time for another Update, don't you??

Job Situation (does anyone know how to write the code for underline?)
I remembered recently that I have not really told many people about the latest with my job situation. It just all happened so fast & I have trouble remembering who I've talked to & who I haven't. To recap, back in September I was offered a 20-hour work week as opposed to the ten I was working for the WIC program as a breastfeeding peer counselor. This was an answer to prayer, as the pay for that was exactly what we needed me to make to supplement Dan's lowly teacher salary (the salary's low, not the job, though some teachers might feel they're treated that way). However, the first week of October, which was my first week working 20 hours, I was in the office one day with Jeremy & Derek, making some phone calls & waiting for a client to show up for our appointment. To make a long story short (& believe me, it IS a long story), an administrator saw us, told me she didn't want me to bring my kids to work, my supervisor arguing the decision didn't help, & so...I can't work there anymore. It was a good job, I enjoyed it while I was there, but ... so long.

But then the question was, "What now?" I was already keeping one little girl Mondays & Wednesdays & my niece on Tuesday & Thursday afternoons. I needed to get a few more if that was how I wanted to make my money. My friend was needing someone to keep her baby after she went back to work, & I was relieved I would be able to do that for her; so it seemed timely that my other job did not work out. I am still not making as much money as I want, well need, I think, so I would appreciate prayers that will lead me to another child to keep. My only other option is to get a waitressing job one night a week (but who would want to hire me for just one night?? it'd probably end up being 2 or 3).

Jeremy points with middle finger
Yeah, that's right. I don't know why, but when Jeremy is pointing at something or telling me the number 1, he uses his middle finger. I mean, it's not like it's natural or even somewhat comfortable to use that finger. And, of course, there's a reason your first finger's called "the pointer finger." So yeah, we're working on that.

Snickers throws up again
My dog has been throwing up once daily. I don't know what the deal is. For a week or so, she was waking us up each night in the middle of the night (2,3,4-ish) & throwing up (she sleeps in our room & the huge gagging sounds were hard to sleep through). For the past 4 days I find throw-up near the back door when I walk into the den the first time each day. I'm now out of Spot Shot, so I guess the December grocery shopping trip I've been putting off is imminent. It's possible it's the new cheap food I got from Kroger the last time, but that was mid-November, & the throwing up didn't start right after that. So, I don't know what's wrong with her. If she has the stomach bug that's been going around, (A) she was the first to get it, (B) it's lasted a lot longer than it does for humans, (C) I hope she can't give it to other dogs, since we'll be dog-sitting for a friend this coming week. After she starts the cheap food I'll be getting from Wal-Mart, I'll let you know if the throwing up subsides. I'm sure you'll all be waiting on the edge of your seats for the news. :)

Pain in the neck!
For the past week now, I have had neck & shoulder pain which has ranged from mild pain in the neck (pardon the pun) to severe shoulder strain (pardon the silly alliteration). Last Wednesday morning when I woke up, I had milk neck stiffness, which was also in my left shoulder & was a little more painful than the stiff neck I've experienced before. By Thursday morning, when I woke up an hour before my alarm was going to propel me out of bed, I wanted to scream from the excruciating pain. It loosened up, however, & by that night, when I had a show to do it had lessened considerably (praise God! & I did). It still hung around for a while, almost a week, which I thought was unusual. But it wasn't keeping me from my activities, so I wasn't going to do anything about it. Yesterday morning (a week from the beginning), I woke up again to excruciating pain & I really wanted to cry. I called the doctor to make an appointment for Friday (my first chance). By the afternoon, though, it had lessened again & I second-guessed my need to go to the doctor. Then last night at church, I did the ultimate stupid thing. So I bring you Mommy's Bad Idea #88: Helping to set chairs up for Wednesday night supper. I couldn't help it. I saw that only half of our usual number of chairs were out. I feel kinda silly, like a (*gasp*) mother, when I ask others to help do something that I should be perfectly capable of doing myself. So I just went over, started getting the chairs out & putting them at the tables. You have to know what our setup is to know why this is bad. The chairs are up on racks. You have to lift your arms (okay when you're normal), raise the chairs above your head, bring them down to the floor, then unfold them & put them at tables. At one point, a chair slipped out of my hands. I don't know what happened except that I suppose I probably reacted quickly to try to catch the chair & pulled something in my neck worse than it already was. An observant friend of mine noticed I was favoring my neck, so she came over to help. She lifted the chairs off & handed them to me so I could put them at the tables. It wasn't until I sat down to eat my food that I realized how horribly my neck & shoulder now felt--possibly the worst yet. SOOO...I'm glad I still have that doctor's appointment. Sleeping last night was difficult, at best. :)

Christmas letters
Finally, a little survey:
If you send out Christmas letters, when do you send them out & how many do you send? How long is yours usually? A card or a newsletter? Pictures??

Stay tuned, I will be posting the Holiday Edition of Getting To Know Your Friends soon. I know you're all so very excited about another survey.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, Jeremy just informed me that Derek is “cleaning” the toilet. I gotta go.

Why I Love My Church Family

2006-12-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is a practice run for an article I'm planning to write for the bulletin this weekend. After Bible study last night, it just kept running through my mind that there are some really great things about my church family that amaze me and encourage me all the time. First,

Why I Love Wednesday Night Suppers:
*Eating with a large group of people that I didn't have to do all the cooking for.
*Eating with the college students, who seem to sense when I need an extra hand. Last night, I ate by myself (well, I got to sit with my own friends for a change) because my kids were eating with their favorite college students. I didn't have to fill their plates, find them a place to sit, make them eat all their vegetables, get them drinks, help them cut up their food, clear their stuff from the table ... or any of the other things that come with taking care of children at dinner time.

*Getting to know the Gillies. Tom & Leah are some of the sweetest people you'd know. I have really enjoyed getting to know them, as well as eating Leah's great cooking! And I was really impressed that Tom, who noticed my neck was very stiff last night, offered to take me with him to see his masseuse on Friday.

*Finding someone different to sit with each time. It has been a fun game to try to get to know someone different each time I go. Sometimes, it turns into a big argument when the kids want to sit with their friends, but for the most part I enjoy it.

*The fellowship each week is outstanding. It's easy to get conversation going over food. It's like an ice breaker: "I wonder who made this delicious dessert?"

*With all the extra stuff I'm carrying, class materials, dinner dishes, etc., there are always people on hand to help me out. What a blessing! Moms really don't have extra hands, you know, except when they're willing to accept help from others.

Why I Love My Adopted Family:
This semester, we took 4 college students, 2 or 3 families, put them together & the result is...
Lots of fun & fellowship!

So far, our family has gotten together for dinner & dessert twice, one of those times just so we could get to know each other better. The other time was to celebrate one of our students' birthdays & play some games together. We had such a blast both times! My kids LOVE the attention they get from the college students, and *surprise* the college kids genuinely seem to enjoy it too. I remember how special I felt as a child to receive direct attention from a young adult or college student. It makes me smile to see that my children have that opportunity too. And I have to admit, they make me feel pretty special too. The first Sunday we found out who our adopted families were, two of my "kids" came over to hug us & say "Hi Mom & Dad!" Cute. They all offer to babysit for us, & they help keep an eye on the kids while they're running around the church building. One of my students has offered to help with the bulletin & directory. What servants!

While I know all the college students are really special people, I want to say a "thank you" to Adria, Ethan, Kristin, & Jason, who I'm so proud to call family. If you haven't had the opportunity to get your adopted family together much this semester, please try to do so more often in the spring. Every one of you will be blessed because of it.

Word Verification Dyslexia

2006-12-07T08:57:00.000-05:00

I become dyslexic when I do those word verification thingies in order to leave comments on people's blogs. I don't know how many times I have had to redo one because it didn't accept my first submission. For instance, dxhmi becomes dhxim. I just caught myself. Before, I didn't know WHY I was having to redo them so often.

Elf On A Shelf & My Basement Door Project, Which Are Totally Unrelated Subjects

2006-12-03T21:39:00.000-05:00

Over Thanksgiving break, while we were decorating my in-laws' tree, Oma pulled out "Elf on a Shelf," which is really just a dwarf ornament from Snow White (don't tell the boys!). Anyway, she launches into this big story about Elf-on-a-Shelf for the boys' benefit. She said that the elf sits on a shelf during the day, keeping an eye on everyone, and then at night he goes to the North Pole to report to Santa. Then he comes back the next day in a new place in the house. The kids thought that was pretty cool. So Oma put him up on a shelf. Sure enough, the next day, he was in a different spot. I was thinking, "I gotta get one of these!" Already planning out my own scheme. But Oma was ahead of me; she sent Elf-on-a-Shelf home with us. So he has made himself at home here in Christiansburg. I did not unpack the car when we got home at midnight Sunday night, & I was surprised (though I shouldn't have been) that the kids were asking about him the next morning. Oops. So I told them he must have stayed in the car that night, but that I'd make sure I made a place for him as soon as I brought everything in. I brought him in & put him up on top of our refrigerator (he does not have to be on a shelf, as you'll see later). The kids think this is just great. And, of course, so do I. I am totally playing up the "You guys better be good, Mr. Elf is going to report to Santa tonight what you've done today." I LOVE the magic of Santa!
As you can see, Mr. Elf has been in different places, including hanging from our basketball net--the kids got a HUGE kick out of that! The boys excitedly look through the house each morning for Elf-on-a-Shelf. Today he was in Derek's room. This is where he's "going to be" tomorrow, his first time actually on a shelf, in our living room:

This might be the best year ever for our family getting into the Christmas spirit. There is only a small window of time that you have with your kids believing in Santa. Once they start school, you're just not sure when they're going to find out the truth. I have no idea how much longer I have with Nathan, & after that when he'll be telling his brothers. So we're taking advantage of "the magic" as much as possible this year. The kids have Christmas Countdown Calendars, also courtesy of Oma, that have little chocolates in each of the windows. Every morning so far (which is 3), the kids have gotten out of bed & almost immediately started asking about getting their chocolate. I am planning to start another special activity tomorrow, where I read a Psalm to the boys each morning. If it seems to go over well, I'll try to organize it a little more next year. I hope to continue it past Christmas, but thought it was as good a time as any to get it started. Do you have a daily tradition your family does during the holidays (or did when you were a child)?

There is NOTHING cuter than a 2-yr-old shouting, "Look! Christmas lights!" which really sounds like, "Woot! Tismas wights!" Too adorable! We count how many houses have Christmas decorations when we're driving around. And Derek is in on it just as much as his big "buh-das."

Speaking of Christmas, you might be interested in the Countdown to Christmas I have at the bottom of this page. I think I might have mentioned it before. Today, there are only 3 weeks & less than one day til Christmas!

You might remember that one post I asked about ideas for our basement door. The door in our house leading down to the basement had a hole cut in the bottom for the previous owner's cat. The cat-door had fallen off & the hole that was left was all uneven & jagged-edged, so I wanted to do something to cover it up. I haven't yet taken the time to print out a picture of the kids' faces, which I plan to eventually do. But here's what the door looks like now. My mom, who is ultra-creative, helped me a few weeks ago find a frame & these velcro strips to attach the frame to the door. I bought a print to put in the frame. Since it worked, I went back to get another frame & print for the other side of the door, & thought Dan might appreciate an Italian scene, since he so enjoyed his time in Italy. So, walking up the stairs of the basement, it appears that you're looking out a window to a villa scene. I think it's cute. Kinda strange to have picture frames on the bottom of a door, but it's WAY better than an ugly hole.

View of the door from the upstairs:
And, from the basement steps looking up:

My sister now has a blog that you can find here. Loni is too cute! She started off with some observations on her experiences as a first-year teacher, but she's branched out a bit, talking about the moon & her weird propensity for handbags(you'd have to read it to understand).

These people were tagged either directly or indirectly from my Weird Post (which, if you don't know, is an ongoing "meme" going around the blog world--you'll have to check out Mom's weird post comments for Malia's informative definition of the word "meme"):
Loni
Dad
Mom
Trey
Tanya
Terri (left a comment on my weird post with some of her weird qualities)
Emily (Malia's sister; you may not know her, but Emily is WAY funny! You will get a kick out of her list)

As most people say, there are probably lots of weird traits that we don't remember when we're working on our list of 6 things. Every time I read someone else's list, I think of another thing or two I could have put on my own. Maybe someday I'll post the complete list. ... On second thought, it'd take too long. But one thing that's been kinda reassuring during this Weird Saga: you read other people's weird lists & check off half of the list that could apply to you as well (maybe more if you're related)...maybe we're not so weird after all!

One Girl's Weird is Another Girl's Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

2006-12-01T01:45:00.001-05:00

(At what age will I cease being a girl & start thinking of myself as a woman?)

Okay, Malia tagged me, so I'll give it a whirl.

But I had to get help from Dan. Who would know my weirdest quirks better than the man I've lived with the past 7 years (almost)?? You may not believe this, but I had a hard time coming up with weird things about myself. I'm just not all that weird. Who knew?

Six Weird Things About Me you may or may not already know:

1. I do not like people to play with my ears. Please don't touch them, stick wet fingers in them, don't even look at them. I've had ear problems for a long time, & I've had enough of all the poking around in my ears. Please just leave them alone.

Thank you.

2. I'm too defensive of other people. When someone says something bad about someone else--even if it's true--I jump to their defense. You could say, "Wow, I can't believe that jerk just cut me off." And I'll say, "Well, he might be having a bad day." It doesn't matter that I don't know these people, I have to defend them.

3. I get caught up in books I'm reading so that I tend to neglect other duties in order to read them. If I am in the middle of a book, don't be surprised to note that the laundry is still unfolded from 2 weeks ago, the kitchen counters are collecting dishes, crayon marks are all over the living room, water is dripping from the bathroom into the basement, the dog has peed on the carpet, & the kids are running around outside naked. Is that food under the table from last week?

Oh wait, that's not weird, it's just plain lazy.

4. HP might mean Hewlett Packard to you, but it means Harry Potter to me. I am very obsessed with Harry Potter. Last summer, when the 6th book was coming out in stores, the family & I joined ranks with a few other strange HP fans & hung out at our local Barnes & Noble to enjoy festivities such as wand-decorating, HP trivia quizzes, lightning bolt tattoos (temporary, don't worry), & story time. Ahem, the festivities began at 10PM. Don't worry, the kids didn't mind missing sleep. I am pretty angry that the movies are not coming out in a timely fashion (I mean, come on! Dan Radcliffe, the actor-who-plays-HP-all-of-you-can-call-him-Daniel-but-we're-tight-so-I-can-call-him-Dan, is going to be 32 when HP's supposed to be 17!!). I am very upset about how the 6th book turned out (I'm not telling!!). I have cried while reading more than one of the books. I was disappointed by some of the things left out of the 4th movie. I don't think Dan (my Dan) should be reading his students the 5th book in class...he should have started with the first. I still cannot figure out whether or not to trust Severus Snape. I want to be in the Order of the Pheonix.
Oh, by the way, have all you muggles checked out www.mugglenet.com??

5. Some of you might not think this is weird, but most will: I did not take any pain medication for any of my babies' deliveries & 2 of them were born at home.

6. I'm bossy (this was Dan's idea). I tend to tell others what to do. I give helpful suggestions & make people feel like they have to use them. Then, when I bossily organize an activity & it doesn't go right, I get upset. Or in the middle of it, I feel bad that I'm bossing everyone around.

Okay, never mind, I don't like that one. Scratch that. (cool, it worked!)

~~6. I don't like other people's feet touching mine.~~

You know what? I don't like that one either. Let's try again...

6. I am so obsessed with blogging, I could spend hours each day just working on one of my posts. I start writing, then go back & fix something here, add a little there, do a little research on this or that, check so-&-so's blog about something I read yesterday, try to find a picture to add (which takes a long time, & really that's why I spend so much time on a post), think of something funny to put in the title... You need proof? I started this post yesterday & spent about 30 minutes trying to think of what to write. I got back on tonight around 11:30 & have been working on it straight until now, 1:30AM. And you know what, by the time I'm done with a post, I've read it so much I'm sick of it!! How's that for blog-obsessed, AKA weird?!

All right, I know I'm not all that weird after all. But you're not surprised, are you? You already knew that. I'm one of the most normal people any of you know.

And to spread the love, I'm tagging these people that I don't know much weirdness about:
Dad (who'd better tag Mom), Dee (who'd better tag another ChiO), Terri (who'd better tag Dawn or Mark), Tanya (who I hope will tag Cindy, even though Cindy probably won't do it, so she should probably tag Bevin too), Maria (who can tag anyone she wants to tag!!), & Matt (who won't do it & instead just think I'm really weird--then again, his post from yesterday might have been his "weird" post--ha!!).

Feel free to consider yourself tagged if I didn't officially tag you, & post your own Weirdness for everyone to see. I'm also hoping that those of you I tagged will tag others that I would have liked to have tagged (which is why I offered helpful suggestions for who to tag). If you each tag two other people I know, & those people tag two other people I know, & so on, we will eventually cover all the people I know. What? What's so weird about that??

I'm Thankful For . . .

2006-11-29T23:39:00.000-05:00

Friends like the Hinckleys, who let me drag them along on one of my hare-brained ideas last night. Usually my wild & wacky ideas involve dragging along a friend or two; sometimes it's Dan or other family members; & thankfully everyone's always a good sport about it.

We have supper each Wednesday night before Bible study, & each week one family or group of families provides a main course, while the rest of the congregation that comes brings a side dish or dessert. Signing up for these suppers has slowed down, & I wanted to sign up for one week but didn't want to do it by myself. So I asked Tanya if she'd be interested, or if she at least could give me an idea for what to cook. So, she came back with several ideas & offered to help (or did I ask? I don't remember). We decided on spaghetti. Sounds pretty easy, right? Why, oh WHY????, do things have to be so complicated when they should be so very easy? The basic food prep was pretty easy, but the timing of everything was a lot harder than it should have been, & there were lots of little things that I forgot about. I felt responsible since it was my idea in the first place. I felt bad for dragging Tanya & Jonathan into it without having a clue as to what I was doing. But, as always, they were good sports about it & SUPER helpful!!

In case you need some tips on preparing a meal for a large group, here are some ideas that should make it easier for you, based on what I learned last night:

1--A large pot of water will probably take longer to boil than a small pot. (Okay, so maybe for most of you, that's common sense, but some of us are a little slower)

2--Watching a pot of water & waiting for it to boil will make it take longer to boil (ask Tanya if you don't believe me)

3--If you're planning to serve drinks with dinner, you need ice. (Again, maybe common sense for some of you)

4--Don't use the spaghetti sauce spoon to stir the tea. (once again, common sense probably...)

5--If you don't mind dragging yet another friend into the mess, ask one to help watch the kids while you're setting up; but don't be surprised if everyone else coming in thinks you must be someone else because your 3 extra limbs (otherwise known as children) aren't hanging off you for once.

6--Enlist a guy (a strong one, like Jonathan) to help set up the chairs & tables & to lift the big heavy pots of spaghetti sauce & pasta.

7--It's helpful to check your supply of plates, cups, napkins, etc., BEFORE the night of your activity.

8--However long you think it's going to take to get everything ready, add 20 extra minutes.

9--Above all else, when you're planning an adventure (even if it's not a far away, exciting adventure), take a friend along for the ride. I'm glad I did!!

My Thanksgiving Trip & Mommy's Bad Idea #87 (also, trip to Storybook Land)

2006-11-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday afternoon the boys & I drove up to New Jersey. Dan has this portfolio he needs to get done for his course, which he had been planning for months to spend this weekend working on. So he was not able to go, but I really had a desire to do something with family on Thanksgiving. Since no one was coming here, I decided to go to NJ. Mom & Dad L. were gracious hosts, as always, & it was great to be with them.

Wednesday was not such a great day. I hadn't been keeping up with the weather, but apparently it was supposed to rain. I did not realize this fact until a little before 1PM when I left the house to go pick up Nathan from school & it was starting to rain. Great. So, on top of the weather (which was coming down pretty hard for the majority of the trip), the traffic was really bad. That's to be expected the day before Thanksgiving, but with the rain it was doubly frustrating. What normally should be 7-7&1/2 hours was 10 hours!! Ugh. I'm thinkin' I should have just not sent Nathan to school that day & left as early as possible. Oh well, would've, should've, could've. Fortunately, the travelers were suitably entertained on the trip, which made it a bit easier. Plenty of DVDs for the kids in the back, a book on CD for me. It's the first time I tried a CD book while traveling, & though I don't absorb as much listening as I do reading, it was entertaining. Next time, though, I'll research a little more before choosing books to listen to with kids around. Though my first book was tame (Philip Craig does not do the really bad words, but some of the not-as-bad bad words), the book on my trip home had a lot of the bad bad words & A LOT of taking God's name in vain. Annoying!!

Thursday was a great day! The morning was relaxing, sleeping in (for me, anyway), hanging out with Dan's folks & the kids. At 2 we picked up Grandmom Leichner & drove over to Steve & Jane's house. It was GREAT to see a lot of extended family that I don't see often or some I've not even met yet! After a few hours there, we went back to "our" house & had dinner with Dawn & Steve & their kids & their girls' boyfriends. That was great too! And Dawn sets a mean Thanksgiving table. Everything was so yummy!! We also played a game that Dan's mom made up, sorta like the surveys that go around the emails & blogs: "What color is most like you?" or "What would you do if you weren't afraid to do it?" etc. Since everyone was such a great sport, it was a lot of fun. I think the answer that elicited the most laughter was Nathan's: "My favorite letter is A, because it's the second letter in my name." Where does he get this stuff? But the most appreciated answer was also from Nathan: "The famous person that I'd like to be friends with is Pop-Pop." Apparently Dad has been bragging to as many people as he can about that.

On Friday, Dad set up the artificial tree he got last year after Christmas for $28. I think he was more excited about the deal he got on it than actually having it. We (Dad, Mom & I) were pretty much making fun of it while he was setting it up. It was sparse-looking. I pointed out, though, that even if it didn't turn out all that great, it's less than he would have spent on a real tree so one good use out of it would have been worth it. After the branches were all spread out, the lights turned on, and the garland draped over it, the tree was looking much better. But I have to say that it looked pretty darn good after the ornaments were put on. Maybe that was the $37 burning a whole in my pocket that made me think it looked good. Mom has some ornaments with good hiding places. Each year after Christmas, while taking the ornaments down, she puts money in those ornaments. Then the next year whoever is helping to decorate the tree gets to look for the money. The kids enjoyed getting the "special" ornaments this year. Even though Nathan found the most bills (6), Jeremy found a 20, so his $23 won. Derek also only found 4 bills, one of which was a 5, so his $8 beat Nathan's $6. It didn't really matter, I decided to put it all together & we'll use it for a special family treat soon. We're looking forward to that.

The other special treat of Friday was going over to Autumn & Chad's house. They also had Shawn & Cindy, Mike & Amy & all of our kids over. We had breakfast for dinner. YUM!! It was so wonderful to spend so much time with our old friends; I was just sad that Dan wasn't there too. It's the most we've done with them in a long time. We're hardly ever in town the same time Mike & Amy are. And we usually only see the rest of our friends at church when we're in town, so to have an evening together with them was really great.

On Saturday, the two big things were Treasure Hunt & Storybook Land. If you don't know what either of those two things are, you are REALLY missing out. ;) The treasure hunt is where Dan's mom (Oma) hides one-dollar bills around the house & the kids find it. They each have a limit (this time, $13) & then they stop while Derek finds the rest of his. Dan's parents really like to spoil the kids, in case you couldn't tell. It's getting to where the kids expect it, though, so I hope they don't do this EVERY time we go (hint, hint). So, we took our $13 to Wal-Mart after lunch & spent it. Nathan & Jeremy both got play guns & small cars. Derek got a Dora puzzle and a Little People SUV (it's purple, & the driver is a girl, but he doesn't seem to mind). After that we drove the rest of the hour to Storybook Land. It's a bit cold for amusement parks this time of year, but we were really blessed with warm weather that day. The main reason for us going this time of year was that Mom had heard Santa comes out at 5 & turns on Christmas lights all around the park. She heard it was pretty amazing. Since the kids absolutely love Storybook Land (voted Most Fun Place on Earth, by Nathan the night before), it wouldn't have mattered what the lights looked like, but I do have to admit, it was pretty amazing. Lights EVERYWHERE. Before that, we had enjoyed rides all over the park. I agree with Jeremy that the best ride is Turtle Whirl (AKA, Spinning Turtles, according to Jeremy). Turtle #6 is especially whirly, & especially so when you have two adults sitting on the outsides with the kids crammed in the middle. I think the centrifugal force affects the speed of the spin. Maybe. I didn't do so well with Engineering Physics. Not my best science class.

Sunday was difficult for me, mainly because I feel uncomfortable with my old congregation after what they did to my parents. But it's not everyone, & I was trying to suppress feelings of betrayal & such. Maybe I'll blog some more on that later. LOTS of people came to hug me & say how cute our kids are & to say that they miss my parents & sister & grandparents. I told them that they miss lots of people in NJ too. Apparently my sister has recently written to a few of the seniors there, & they were very appreciative of that, so Go Loni! (Ellen wants you guys to write to her!) After lunch we had another long trip home. I really intended to drive an alternate route suggested by Dad, but my hands on the steering wheel were on autopilot, apparently, as we just went the same old route we always go. Old habits die hard. Sure enough, we hit bunches of traffic in Delaware & Maryland, which we might have missed if we'd gone the other way. Oh well. Another long trip, 9 & 1/2 hours. But we're home, safe & sound, & I'm relieved. Trying to rest up!!

I was going to include some things I'm thankful for, but this has gotten pretty long, so I'll finish this up with another bad idea & post on my list of thanks later. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Love to you all!

Bad Idea # 87: (In case you're wondering where the first 86 bad ideas are, they're around somewhere. I haven't been keeping exact track, but I'm pretty sure 87 is close.)
Last week before our trip, I stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things & went by the toy department to see if I could spend my meager allowance (yes, I said "allowance") on some small, cheap toys for the trip. I thought I had a pretty good idea: some glow sticks & these little balls that, when you squeeze them, flash a bunch of different colors. It was a good idea; the kids loved the glowing toys when it began to grow dark outside. The problem? Those flashing balls caused me to think there were flashing police lights behind me every time they were squeezed, which was frequently. I started to get used to them, but then there would be a break in between flashings, so when it started up again I panicked again. Not such a great idea after all.

Static Electricity

2006-11-19T14:45:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law Terri took this picture of my niece Hannah and submitted it to our local paper. It was published a few weeks ago, then it was chosen by the paper to be part of this Best Shot contest they're having. If you want to help Hannah win the contest, you can go to this link & vote for her picture, "Static Electricity," or "static," as they have it listed in the left column where you vote. I think you can vote multiple times, though just once each day. I hope I'll be announcing after December 15th that she won!!

How Much Is Your Life Worth?

2006-11-16T13:33:00.000-05:00

I am hooked on this BlogThings site--well, I'm hooked on all things BLOG--but my latest entertainment has been to take one of these tests & then maybe put it on my blog. I enjoyed taking the intelligence test (not to see how much intelligence I have but to see what "type" of intelligence I have). The results are in my last post, near the bottom. [FYI, the other 2 people who took it told me their results were the same; but I know that not everyone gets the same answer because the first time I saw it on someone else's blog, the results were different]

I also took the "What Does Your SAT Score Mean?" test, & the results were quite exciting: my SAT score of 1370 was higher than that of Howard Stern, George W. Bush (I should run for president!!), Al Gore (then again, maybe not), but lower than Bill Gates, Natalie Portman & David Duchovny (who knew that alien chasers were so smart?!). My SAT score also means my IQ level is in the 130-140 range (according to this site, mind you), and that the ACT equivalent was 31 (though I can't remember what it actually was when I took it TEN whole years ago, that sounds about right).
I haven't yet but look forward to taking the Redneck & Driving tests, which I told you about in my last post. Don't hold your breath, I'll get to it.

I did a double-take when I came to "How Much Is Your Life Worth?" I thought, yeah, let's see! So here are the results:

Your Life Is Worth...

$805,500

Whew! Sounds like a lot, but that $1,000,000 life insurance policy might be a good deal after all!

The truth is, there are many ways to calculate what your life is worth, but I initially would not have thought about it in monetary terms, despite my history with math. Maybe that's because of my history with God's Word. One way to look at it (in my opinion) is that the sacrifice of the Lamb of God is what gives my life its worth. That cost is far more than I could ever repay. Thank you, God, that I don't have to! The grace that God extends to me daily covers over whatever worthlessness I created in myself. One of my Dad's favorite quotes is:

The fundamental problem with most of us is not deficient self-esteem but inadequate divine-esteem. (Daniel Block)

Every time I read that, I think "Right on! I know that's true of me!!" When I try to calculate what I am worth, I come up empty. I have issues with self-esteem. And actually, according to Daniel Block & I am apt to agree, my focus on self-esteem IS the problem. I am looking to myself & what I can contribute to society, to my household, to the church; instead I need to look & see what God can do through me to contribute to society, to my household, to the church. When I compare myself to others, I am immediately overwhelmed with all the things about myself I'd change so I could be more like so-&-so or less like another so-&-so. Well, you know what? God can work though me and in spite of me to accomplish the good He will accomplish. When my focus is less on myself and what I want to change the focus is instead on God and what He would change. A favorite quote of mine is from The Purpose-Driven Life:

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less. (Rick Warren)

Again, when thoughts of myself are not at the forefront of my mind, then thoughts of God and His work take over. I'm not thinking less of myself in those instances, I'm thinking instead of my God and Savior and I don't worry about my body or my shortcomings as a human being.

Here's what I'm going to try to do to work on my divine-esteem and maybe this will help you too. Or maybe you have a good handle on this and can give the rest of us some suggestions.

*I am going to try to journal about my day, & home (hone?) in on the times or situations of each day that I am most likely to be distracted with thoughts of myself which almost always end up negative (i.e., I know when I go into the bathroom, I am going to look in the mirror, and then I will proceed to pick out the things about my body I wish could change. That's not a good time of the day for me)
*When I figure out what situations in my daily life I am likely to focus on self (i.e., being in the bathroom), I can devise a plan to stay away from those situations (while not going to the bathroom ever again sounds like a good plan to me, it's not that realistic so instead I am going to try to coach myself before I go in there not to look in the mirror, maybe I won't even turn on the light so it won't be so easy to spot my flaws)
*What else can I do since draping something over the mirror won't help when I need to put my makeup on in the morning? (i.e., Pray before going into the bathrooom; carry a verse with me to read & dissect & think about)

So I chose a somewhat simplified situation to get you thinking. I hope this will at least generate a discussion that can help us to encourage each other. I don't know how much guys are affected by the sort of things girls are, but I know that I have several friends who've complained of the "blahs" lately, and--believe me--I've been there a lot too! Whatever ways we can find to focus on God instead of on self are going to be helpful in the fight against the "blahs" (when did the "blues" change to the "blahs" by the way??). So please share your ideas!!

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:38,39)

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment . . . Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. (1 Peter 3:3,4)

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)

Just Some Miscellaneous Ramblings

2006-11-15T10:06:00.000-05:00

This is how stubborn my youngest is (& if you'll remember from his birthday post, I told you we really thought Jeremy was stubborn until Derek was born):

He comes into the living room really frustrated because he can't get his shirt off. I mean, he's getting angry. I offer to help, but no, he wants to do it himself. He gets it up over his head, but it's still on his arms, & behind his head. He is just wrestling with his shirt & I'm thinking, "what a silly kid, you could just let me help you!" He finally gets it off, & then decides to give it to me. At which point I notice it's wet -- REALLY wet.

"D e r e k..." (I say it really slow because I know he's been up to something but I'm not sure I want to know what that "something" is)

"Why - is - your - shirt - wet?" (I say between gritted teeth)

Jeremy answers for him (they love to get each other in trouble): "Because he was playing in the water!"

So I scold Derek & tell him not to play in the water. Then I scold Jeremy for telling on Derek (not a big fan of the kids telling on each other).

A few minutes later I'm walking down the hall & I hear some noise coming from the bathroom. Hmmm, sounds like running water. Yup, it is running water. Apparently Derek left the water running after he was done with it . . . AND my (still unread) Reader's Digest is now in the sink! This is the second time he's ruined a Reader's Digest I hadn't even read yet! What does he have against the great writers at Reader's Digest?! Especially that witty Mary Roach who I aspire to be like--well, to write like. And who doesn't love all the funny stories that are shared in "Laughter: the Best Medicine," "Humor In Uniform," etc.??

I'm going to have to find another place to leave my RDs.

Okay, another few things...

I love Wayne on Sesame Street, by the way. Wayne was the funniest guy they've ever had on Whose Line Is It Anyway? in case you don't know who "Wayne" is.

My friend Bevin has entered the wonderful world of blogging! And her husband's basketball team (Go Highlanders!) has a blog. I've added both of the links to the right. Unless you're really interested in basketball, I'm not sure you'd want to read about a team you're not familiar with, but then again you might! The Highlanders have provided the majority of our family's winter-time entertainment for the past 3 years & we are looking forward to another year. Especially since they've had such a great start! You can read all about their "surprise" win over VT (another local team & usual victors of the RU-VT battles). I just hope Dan will be able to join us as much as he has in the past. Corey & Bevin just had a baby in August, so you will enjoy seeing sweet pictures of their adorable little Cooper on Bevin's blog.

My brother Trey also now has a blog in addition to Xanga. He hasn't written much yet, but the link's to the right if you're interested to see what kind of little brother I have.

I am also adding Matt Dabbs since he apparently will be an occasional visitor to my little world. Since he's befriending my dad--the new guy--in Florida, & he's going to help me find a husband for my sister, he's almost family. And I've never even met him! Just kidding, he didn't say he would help me find a husband for my sister. If you didn't read my last post, then you are thinking I'm really crazy right now!! Matt's posts are really encouraging, & he also has links to other great preachers, so check out his blog & be prepared to be challenged & encouraged. (Don't worry, Matt, most of my friends are not as annoying as I am)

While I'm at it, I'm adding the other blogs I regularly read. And yes, I KNOW, I am way too obsessed with the whole blogging thing. You can see from the list how much time I must spend each day reading all these blogs. And this list doesn't even include some other blogs that I read a little less frequently or the myspace people that don't really blog on it but occasionally add pictures or whatever. I might be addicted. Dan makes fun of me. Or he might be serious.

Well, anyway, I will try to work on it. For instance, my goal today is to get online to check blogs & email one less time than I did it yesterday.

Today I am aiming to get on only 38 times.

A few posts back I asked a few questions you might be interested in answering if you haven't already seen the post. My brother said something about being sorry he didn't get around to answering them, so I just wanted to let him & others of you know that it's never too late! You can read & comment on my old posts, & I will still very much enjoy reading your comments!

What kind of intelligence do you have?

This is mine (don't laugh!):

Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence

You shine in your ability to relate to and understand others.
Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel.
You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations.
A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict.

You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

There are several other quizzes you can take at this site, & I plan to try a new one every once in a while to share with you. I am looking forward to taking the driver's test & the redneck test. Those will be interesting.

You might also want to scroll down to the very bottom of the page to see my Countdown to Christmas!! Yep, very excited about that.

Last night I had a jewelry show at my house. What fun! I actually really like jewelry, but I've never really had the money to indulge in it that much. So this was a treat. My show totaled over $1,000. Normally the host gets 30% of the total in free jewelry, but they were having a promotion this month so I am getting 50% in free jewelry. (For those of you not inclined toward math--as I am, of course--that's over $500.) So, WOW! I am way excited. I hope it's not too cheap of me, but some of you that I exchange Christmas presents with can probably expect jewelry in your stocking this year.

Okay, I'll wrap this up. I will leave you with my (current) favorite verse: "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." -Isaiah 40:31

I hope you're able to remember today to trust in Him who gives you strength. He will help get you through. Blessings!!

My Answers to the Last Post

2006-11-14T15:35:00.000-05:00

I was going to just leave a comment to my last post with all my answers, but it got so long I thought I should just go ahead & make a new post.

Wow! Great response so far, guys! Thank you! I am enjoying all your answers.

Matt totally took me by surprise, though!! I really thought my post with Derek's bare bottom would scare away all of the preacher friends I've made recently. I'm wondering, Matt, if you know any single guys in FL that I can hook my sister up with. She's going to be really mad that I asked that! You're just the only young guy in FL I know (if we could say I know you), & you're already taken.

Maria, I love imagining your accent as you said "porridge" for breakfast. Too cute! I wish I could hear you!

Amy, can you say "Obsessive/Compulsive"?? HA!! I'm just kidding.

Malia, I love your answer to what you wanted to be when you were a child.

Bevin, I think we should take our vacation together next year. I love the beach too!

Dee, I remember in Searcy there was this horrible trend with the natives there to not use their turn signals. What is up with that?! They're only a little better about that here in VA.

Okay, here are my answers...
1. I guess there is no answer to this one. Thanks a lot for all your help, guys. Really, I mean it, so helpful.
2. I read mostly NIV, but we also have a New American Standard now because Dan was once asked at another church to not read from the NIV. So now I like to compare some of my favorite verses in his translation.
3. Yes, I do think schools should ask for ID, but twice I went to Nathan's school & was not asked for it--once, when I was staying for lunch, I wasn't even asked to sign in. Another time, when we went to pick Nathan up for a dentist's appt, I signed him out & then went to wait for him in the hallway--it wasn't until later that I realized if I were an evil person, it would have been WAY too easy to sign out a kid that wasn't mine & take him home with me! I was just wondering if I was being too paranoid or if others agreed with me.
4. I am definitely NOT a minimalist. I like clothes. I don't really like shorts, even in the summer.
5. There are so many ways I need to work on my relationship with God that I don't know where to begin. But I have determined to be more patient, because that characteristic spans several areas in my life that need improving. (patience with kids, patience with Dan, patience with God, patience with other drivers, patience, patience, patience!!) And I love Matt's latest post on Waiting on the Lord. I actually have a similar post I've been working on, but I think I'm going to scrap it as Matt says it so much better. So go on over & check it out.
6. My biggest driving pet peeve is other drivers, period. But I'm working on that. :)
7. Let's see, breakfast . . . I think I had some.
8. My ideal vacation would be a resort on a tropical beach where I could take lots of books, maybe some craft stuff, where I had absolutely nothing else to do, nothing to cook, nowhere to go, & it would be absolutely free. Since that's not likely to happen in my lifetime, I'll settle for Mom & Dad's new place in sunny FL. It'd be almost the same if I could go without the kids!! I don't think the grand-folk would let me come without them, though. Oh well!
9. I am a night person. I hate it too, because I have three morning children who like to wake me up early! But for some reason, I cannot bring myself to get into bed at a reasonable hour. Maybe it's just that there's so much to do after the kids go to bed.
10. I have always wanted to be a teacher & a mom. Well, I'm halfway there (unless you count Sunday school, which I would, except I planned to be a teacher that got paid).

I need some answers!

2006-11-13T16:30:00.001-05:00

Just feel free to answer whatever questions you want to.

1. Can someone who has beta blogger please tell me if there is a way to avoid having to sign in every time I want to post a blog or post a comment on someone else's blog?

2. What translation of the Bible do you read the most? (this question courtesy of preacherman's post)

3. Do you think schools ought to require to see ID of visitors or of parents taking their children out of school? (this question I'm asking because of my recent visits to Nathan's school--I'll discuss it later)

4. When it comes to clothing, are you a minimalist or an I'd-prefer-to-have-a-pair-of-pants-&-a-shirt-on-even-in-the-muggy-heat-of-summer kind of person? (this question courtesy of the comments-discussion on My Fatal Mistake post)

5. What is one way you want to better yourself or your relationship with God? (this question courtesy of Matt Dabbs' post--incidentally, I want to know if any of my Harding pals remember this guy--he was there around the same time most of us were; after my "Fatal Mistake" post, I don't think he'll be coming around here anymore!)

6. What's your biggest driving pet peeve?

7. What did you have for breakfast this morning?

8. If you could go anywhere for vacation, where would you go?

9. Are you a morning person or a night person?

10. What did you want to be when you were a child?

Happy Birthday, Derek Braden!

2006-11-10T08:34:00.000-05:00

In honor of Derek’s second birthday today, I wrote a loving (mostly) tribute to honor the child that is my youngest son. Incidentally, he is the third son of a third son of a third son of a third son (no joke!). Very special, indeed!

Derek . . .
*Until you were born, we thought Jeremy was stubborn
*Until you started jibber-jabbering, we thought Nathan was going to be our chatterbox
*Until you, we had no idea just how loud a child could scream
*Until you, I wouldn’t have figured on a child falling out of his chair so many times simply because he refuses to sit still for even a second
*Until you came along, I thought 7 a.m. was pretty early to have to wake up (why, oh why, must you consistently wake up at 6:15?)
*Until you, I didn’t know the meaning of the word “bossy”
*Until you, I didn’t know a rough-&-tumble little boy could turn around & give babies gentle little pats on the head or sweet little hugs
*Until you, I never knew how cute the color “leh-lo” could be
*Until you, I didn’t know just how precious it would be to witness my two oldest sons protect their younger brother & then in the next second wrestle him to the ground
*Until you, I couldn’t have guessed how cute it would be to have Nathan & Jeremy be renamed to “Nay-nay” and “Meh-mee”, although I’m glad you’re getting the hang of their given names, even imitating me when I “sternly” call them “Da-faniel” (Nathaniel) & “Deremiah” (Jeremiah)
*Until you were born, I wasn’t sure how three children would fit in that small room in our tiny little house
*Until you were born on that lovely Wednesday afternoon two years ago, I wasn’t sure if I could fit my three little children in my lap, or surround them with my arms
*Until the very second you were born, I wasn’t sure my heart could grow to fit the love I’d need for my three precious little boys

How easy that was, & needless my worries! Your impish little smile, your obvious leadership qualities (even at such a young age!), your friendliness–all of these things plus so much more make it pure JOY to love you, to treasure you, my dear sweet child. I love you, Derek Braden, & have from the first moment I laid eyes on you. I still remember how wonderful it was to be able to be in my own room, waiting so impatiently & painfully for you to arrive, then the moment you came I forgot all about the pain I was in & hugged you so close & cried & cried & cried (it’s a good thing you’re too young to be embarrassed by your ol’ Ma). I had a feeling that the slowness with which you were brought into this world might be a sign for things to come. While you have taught me patience in many ways, all of them are ways I’ve needed to learn.

DB, I will treasure you always.

Perhaps those of you that know Derek might like to share a special memory or thought of him as well. Thank you!

Our God Reigns!

2006-11-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

Jehovah-rapha!
The God who heals
Jehovah-jireh!
The God who provides
El-Shaddai!
All Sufficient One

A friend of mine sent me these names for God today, & they really encouraged me. Enough to want to share them with you.

I went forward yesterday at church. Though we had a guest speaker who was GREAT, the reason I went forward had more to do with these burdens I carry that have gotten too heavy. I share with a small group of friends what's going on in my life, but I guess yesterday was the point of breaking. I just posted a few days ago about how great I am at giving my burdens over to God. How arrogant of me! I was so wrong! There is at least one big burden that, though I pray about it often, still weighs heavy on my heart and tears me down regularly. I thought I was giving it over to God, but since I let myself still worry over it, I don't. I have been trying to manipulate someone into doing something, when it really has to be this person's decision. Even if I were able to convince them of the change they need to make, it means nothing if I've coaxed it out of them, rather than letting them discover the need to change themselves.

Praise God for being El-Shaddai--I am nowhere near being all-sufficient, but He is all I need.
Praise God for being Jehovah-rapha--We all need healing!
Praise God for being Jehovah-jireh--My God provides for all my needs. In this case, it was a church family that enveloped me after services & again last night & reminded me that I am loved & cared for by earthly beings as well as by Jehovah God.

And it's knowing you, my friends, are there for me as well. I love you!

Cornbread Muffins

2006-11-04T21:45:00.000-05:00

Here is the perfect partner for your cold-weather chili (or Taco Soup, if you're Dee!):

Cornbread Muffins

1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. fine yellow cornmeal
1/3 c. sugar, heaping if you like it sweet
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 egg
1 1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter the bottoms only of 12 muffin cups. Mix the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk egg, milk, and vegetable oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients. Pour in liquid mixture & stir just until smooth. Spoon the batter into muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the center oven rack until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 15-20 minutes.

A "cheesy" option is to add a bit of cheddar to the top of each muffin; I think it would work adding it before cooking, but I usually top them off with cheese just after taking them out of the oven.

I got this recipe from Family Fun, it was originally for making a mix to give as gifts. You just measure the dry ingredients & put them in a bag or jar. Attach instructions for making the muffins; your gift recipient only needs to add the liquid ingredients.

Enjoy!!

For the curious...

2006-11-01T22:23:00.000-05:00

The bug that I posted about has been identified as either a house centipede or a silverfish by you, my devoted readers. Dan doesn't think it's very easy to tell from the picture what it is. You can't see the size of it, or really what its back looks like. I have looked up silverfish before, & I can tell you with about 90% certainty that it is not a silverfish. (Again, it is hard to tell from the picture, but thank you all who tried to help me figure out what kind of bug it is) I am apt to agree with Kim Hill who said it's call a house centipede. Aunt Dawn, who "googled" it agrees that it's a centipede. It is very centipede...ish. If I had our Audobon Society books here at home, I'd look it up again under centipedes, but alas, they are in Dan's classroom (the books, not the centipedes).

Interestingly enough, this post has generated quite a few comments, even comments that were sent to me by email rather than posted on the blog, & even a comment from "James", a man that I'm not sure I know. It's good to know that you're just as interested in the bugs that reside in our home as you are the children. I'll be sure & post a few pictures of the fruit flies, fleas, spiders...just kidding. Have you ever noticed how many bugs you get in your house when you're moving in? It's amazing--probably more so in the summer than during the winter (it is cold in the winter, after all). But they're gone now. We miss them terribly.

If you're just checking in for the first time in a few days, make sure to scroll down as I've posted several times in just a short while. I don't want you to miss a single post!

And, now I leave you, my dear friends. I have spent so much time on the computer today that the house is suffering (& Derek is flashing the neighborhood). I will be back, but when? I cannot say.

Good day to you all.

Fatal Mistake

2006-11-01T10:37:00.000-05:00

Derek is going to be the cause of a heart attack--& I predict it will be before he's 4. My BIG mistake of the day: not getting a shower before Dan left for school. I needed a shower, though, so I decided to try it--with Derek & Jeremy running loose around the house.

Jeremy comes into the bathroom while I'm showering & says that Derek has let the dog out of the house (oh no! not again!). So I quickly get out, dry off, get dressed.

Then it hits me... "Jeremy, where's Derek?"

"Outside."

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I run to the front door & peek outside. I don't see him, so I'm hoping maybe Jeremy was wrong?? No such luck. I hear Derek, so I call to him & he comes around the corner of the house. Apparently he went after the toys we left in the driveway yesterday in our rush to get ready for trick-or-treating.

What I learned from this mistake: from now on, when I MUST take a shower & it's not naptime & there's not another responsible adult in the house, I will lock & bolt all the doors. I will lock Snickers in the basement & turn off all the lights so Derek won't go down there. I will instruct Jeremy to stand guard over Derek & not let him near any of the doors. In fact, I think I'll chain Derek to the dining room table.

Better yet, & much easier, I'll just put Derek in his room & lock the door ... from the outside.

Oh, and did I mention that Derek is going through I-love-to-take-off-my-pants-&-diaper-&-run-around-the-house phase? So, yeah, any neighbors driving past our house around 10 this morning got an eyeful!!

Warning: Bare-bottomed picture of Derek ahead--you may want to close your eyes!

Is it okay to post a picture of your baby's bottom on your blog? I wasn't sure.

Was it his morning adventures or last night's excitement that wore him out so thoroughly that he fell asleep on the living room floor?!

Halloween

2006-10-31T22:38:00.000-05:00

Halloween, continued

2006-10-31T22:27:00.000-05:00

It's the Leichner Zoo!

Two truck stories

2006-10-31T15:07:00.000-05:00

I'm tellin' ya, I would have enjoyed being a preacher, but my dad gave me the wrong chromosome.

Today Derek, Jeremy, Chelsea & I drove over to Dan's school to visit him & his class & show off our cute costumes. I will post more about Halloween & the fun (WARM) days we've been having later. While we were driving on the interstate, two interesting things happened that both involved trucks, & each time I thought, "I think I'll blog on that."

When I'm driving I try to be aware of other drivers. I am largely influenced by my dad & my husband in this respect. I have learned a lot from them when it comes to driving, and I'm grateful for that as I am not a particularly aware person, if you know what I mean (in other words, complete airhead!!). I was passing a few trucks when I noticed a truck coming up pretty quick behind me. I don't drive terribly fast (I promise), but with my roots being in NJ I am usually one of the faster drivers on the road while in Virginia (& that's because everyone else drives slow, not that I drive fast). But I digress . . . So this truck is coming up behind me, which I thought was interesting, but we were on the down slope. I thought about moving over to the right lane to let him get by but we just started on a hill up & I thought that he'd probably slow down quickly as those big trucks usually do. But, sure enough, he didn't slow down. So I found a place to move over into the right lane & let him by. As he passed by I realized why he was going so fast--no trailer on him! So my thought was, "I guess he's enjoying being without all that extra weight & taking advantage of being able to drive faster." My next immediate thought was, "Isn't it great to feel so light? You just move right along!"

How many times does our day drag on because of all the burdensome things we have to do? How often do we feel weighed down by the stresses of our lives, & we even feel we are moving in slow motion? How, then, does it feel to be free of our burdens & move quickly with grace and joy instead? Does your heart literally feel lighter when you've unloaded a burden in prayer? Do you feel grateful that your heavenly Father is willing to take on your sorrows and help you get through them? Do you express your gratitude with joy?

I was feeling pretty light-hearted today and have been for a while. I have reached a point in my relationship with God that I feel confident He will take care of me. I feel confident relinquishing control to Him and letting Him guide me as He sees fit. I'm not perfect--I don't always remember to not worry about something I've already prayed about. But I know the comfort, joy, & grace that comes when I do truly hand a problem over to God.

My second story is just a sweet little story. The boys like to try to get trucks to honk at them as we drive past them. Jeremy was trying this today on our way home from Dan's school, but I really didn't think the truckdrivers would be able to see him, as he was sitting in the middle of the backseat. I was wrong, though! One truck driver in a blue truck saw him & honked back. Not only that, but after we passed him, he pulled over into our lane behind us, & so I waved to thank him for honking for Jeremy. And he waved back! Pretty cool, but that's not all! A few minutes later, we pulled off the interstate at our exit. As we did this, the same truckdriver passed us & honked again! Jeremy was pretty excited, but I don't think he was as excited as I was. I don't know why it tickled me so, but I just like thinking about the connection strangers can have with each other. I don't really know if that truckdriver remembered a few hours later the cute little boy in the red Camry that he honked at, but I remember him & his big blue truck! It made my day. And thanks to blogging, I'll remember him for a long time. :)

Why not seek out a stranger today or tomorrow that you can bless?

Prayers Requested

2006-10-29T20:06:00.000-05:00

Let me tell you about a friend of mine named Lisa. (No, not me)

Lisa Carr lived in Bluefield, Virginia, until about a year ago when her family moved to Searcy, Arkansas, so her husband could take a position with African Christian Hospitals. In Bluefield they were about an hour away from our church's location; but Lisa, her husband Tom, & their children Betsy, Jamie & Mary, worshiped with us in Blacksburg. (They have an older son, Jesse, who was at Harding.) They are amazing people, incredible really. She & Tom taught our young marrieds class for a little while, & I loved the insights they shared. I never traveled the hour to Lisa's house, but when I saw her each Sunday, I immediately felt at home. I don't know if it's a special bond just she & I shared, or if everyone Lisa comes into contact with goes away feeling the same way I did. She manages to avoid chit-chat & get deep into conversation, even when you only have a few minutes to talk. When you're talking with her, you feel like her eyes are able to see deep into your soul & know if you're dealing with hurt or pain.

After Derek was born nearly 2 years ago, Lisa & her family somehow adopted Derek to "their pew" almost every Sunday. If you think that this was mostly Lisa's idea, however, you'd be wrong. The entire family, a family that by all appearances gets along really well with each other, fought over who got to hold Derek. He was almost always asleep when they (very reluctantly) returned him to me after services. Lisa, Mary & Betsy, even Tom, shared stories about the cute things he did while they had him.

When they were going to be moving back to Searcy, our congregation held a farewell potluck for their family. I had printed & framed a poem that was special because of how it reminded me of them & the friendship we shared. I tried to share a few words about the Carrs at the potluck, talking about how difficult it was to see them go but how wonderful the reunion in heaven would be. I was barely holding it together when I glanced at Lisa & her red, teary eyes, and then I lost it & couldn't say anymore. Thankfully Tom took over & shared his own farewell words to the congregation.

Well, I love sharing memories about people that are special to me. I love sharing a little of them & my love for them with the people who read this blog. But that's not the only reason I'm telling you about Lisa. I am asking for prayers for her because she has just been diagnosed with cancer. You know, you hear about people like Lisa being afflicted with cancer & you want to question why in the world it has to be them, what good could it possibly do for them to suffer from a disease or maybe worse, dying from a disease. And yet, people like Lisa are the most equipped to handle the pain and suffering, the questioning that inevitably pops up. She doesn't want to leave her children, her husband, her friends. Yet she is so confident that should the worst happen, she WILL be graced by their presence once more, and this time for eternity.

We are praying for healing. We are asking that God will heal this woman of her cancer. So if you would join me in that prayer, I would be really grateful, & Lisa will be very blessed. She starts chemotherapy tomorrow. She thought she would be starting it next week & was surprised when she realized it was this week, so she is not quite mentally prepared for it. If you would, please pray for her to get through tomorrow, and then that the rest of the treatments will produce results.

Thank you all!

Did you know...

2006-10-27T09:59:00.000-05:00

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds?

Imagine a goldfish marriage...

Mrs. GF: Honey, will you take out the trash?
Mr. GF: Of course, dear.

3 seconds later.

Mrs. GF: Honey, will you take out the trash?
Mr. GF: Of course, dear.

What other funny scenarios can you imagine??

New Blogs

2006-10-25T07:52:00.000-05:00

Hi y'all, just wanted to let you know about some new blogs that are out there. (Remember, they're new, so there's not much on them yet, but they're going to be good!)

Thinking on These Things, by my Mom

Riner Leichners by my sister-in-law Terri

Survey Says...

2006-10-24T14:58:00.000-05:00

Molly's the winner!! And here's what you've won . . .

Congratulations, Molly!! And thank you, to Molly, and all the many others who played my little survey game, especially those that don't particularly like answering survey questions and those that continued to buzz in after the 7th comment. If you were one of the early "surveyees," go back & see what others wrote after you!

Here's a little bonus for Molly, and the rest of you that are interested in useless trivia about candy bars. When I looked up some websites to find a picture of a NutRageous bar (which is Molly's favorite in case you didn't figure out why I posted a picture of it), I also came across a bunch of trivia about the NutRageous bar, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups & peanuts, plus I added a few additional comments. Have fun!

*Reese's NutRageous bar was introduced in January 1994 (that's younger than I am!).
*The NutRageous bar's original name in test markets was "Acclaim," but most consumers disliked this name and said it made them think of the car by the same name. When presented with the name "NutRageous," the test market consumers immediately loved it. (Incidentally, the name "Camry" was also in the mix, but consumers were not interested in a candy bar imported all the way from Japan)
*A NutRageous bar was reportedly eaten in "The Nap" episode of Seinfeld (I can't believe I don't remember what episode that is! I thought I saw all the reruns three times!).
*Spanish explorers discovered peanuts in Peru in the 16th century (before this discovery, a sandwich favorite was cocoa butter & jelly).
*Rumor has it that Taylor and Zachary Hanson are huge fans of NutRageous Bars (as if anyone remembers who the Hansons are).
*Peanuts aren't a nut, they're a legume (oh, that's why they're called, peanuts).
*A third of the world's peanuts come from India (huh, a third of my honors classmates in high school were also from India. No joke! I'm not making fun, they were my favorite classmates).
*Peanut butter was developed in 1890 by a St. Louis physician seeking a nutritious, easily digested, high-protein food for elderly patients (I guess he found it?).
*Mr. Reese was not only involved with candy. He is also known for the Reese automobile, a 3-wheeled, gasoline engined vehicle that was built in Plymouth, PA, in 1899. Only one such vehicle remains intact. Mr. Reese also built Reese and Shawnee bicycles. (have you ever noticed the ridges around a peanut butter cup? That's how the wheels on his vehicles were made as well, perhaps a clue as to why they are not still intact)
*Reese's makes enough peanut butter cups in one year to feed one cup to every person in the US, Japan, Europe, Australia, China, Africa, and India (I'm sorry, India, I ate your peanut butter cups last year).

What kind of bug is this?

2006-10-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

Can anyone tell me what kind of bug this is?

Mommy Gang

2006-10-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

We are the Mommy Gang! From left to right: Lisa, Jeremy & Derek, April with Melody, Sara with Carley, & Bevin with tiny baby Cooper!

I jokingly called us the "mommy gang" in an email to April, & she really likes that title for our little club. Today was the first "meeting," & we had so much fun! I was so excited about having everyone over that I couldn't even wait more than an hour to get on & blog about it.

When I first started going to church in Blacksburg, it was so wonderful for me to have a few friends who were a little older & had older children but also children close in age to mine. (And, by the way, Tanya, I did not really feel like they were older!!) We got together frequently, kept each other's kids occasionally, & loved every second of it! I cherished the feeling of security that came with having friends who'd "been there, done that," & when my younger or same-age friends here started having children, I thought, "I want to be that for them too!" So we got together, had lunch, played with our kids, talked a lot about nursing! ... & then made sure we got pictures!!

Baby Cooper (born August 22)

Melody kissing Carley (who turned 1 today!)

Carley making Derek giggle

Thanks for all the fun, guys! I can't wait to do it again!

Happy Birthday, Mom L.!

2006-10-19T10:35:00.000-05:00

My mother-in-law is having a special birthday today. I don't know if she'll mind if I tell you what her age is now, though. (It ends with a "0".) Her birthday is not special because of what age she's turning. Her birthday is special because she's a special person. I'd like to share a little of how she has blessed me in the past seven years.

My first special memory of being with Dan's mom is from Dan's graduation. His whole family drove out to Harding. It was fun to be part of the family, even though we had only been engaged for about a week. I enjoyed being part of the easy banter, the childish behavior of "the boys," who were now all grown men, and the way Dan's mom was forever rolling her eyes at them but really laughing inside (I can easily see that being me in twenty years--but that thought makes me cry!). I remember Dan's graduation party a little while later when Dan's mom so thoughtfully included not just me, but my family too. And I met much of Dan's family for the first time that afternoon, thinking this will be a nice family to be a part of!

Another special memory is from Christmas 1999. Dan & I were going to be married in one week!! Mom always goes ALL out for Christmas--there are tons of presents under the tree for everyone. I was not expecting to be included so fully in their family Christmas before I was officially part of the family. I was quite surprised, though! On Christmas Eve, I was invited to go along to get their Christmas tree (I don't remember for sure, but Dan says he wasn't there that year). It's tradition every year to go get the tree on Christmas Eve. I believe this tradition comes from Mom's parents. And now we do it too! On my part, it was under protest for the first year or two, but I now fully embrace this special tradition.

It's incredible that I don't remember Dan not being there, because I can actually remember other specific things about that day. What I was wearing, for example (and, for the record, I don't remember what I wore yesterday). Riding over in Terri's blazer. Having a disgusting potty discussion courtesy of Brian. Playing with my sweet little niece Arden. I remember everyone teasing Dan's mom about having to find the perfect tree (that, incidentally, is not unique to Dan's family--I think every family must tease the Mom about her search for the perfect tree since we did it too). And then I remember that we did not, actually, find the perfect tree but a rather UGLY one! What do you expect when you wait til Christmas Eve to get a tree, right?! Of course, since Dan's mom brings out about a thousand ornaments that you're supposed to cram on the tree, it doesn't entirely matter what the tree looks like bare. On Christmas Day, Mom had quite a few presents for me in the mix, & I felt so special!

Most of the other memories I have that include Mom are spread throughout the past seven years. Mom & Dad always made a point to come down each time we had a new baby. They come down frequently throughout the year so their grandkids don't forget them (they don't seem to care whether or not Dan & I would forget them, though!).

My favorite thing about my mother-in-law, AKA Mom, is that we have a great relationship. I am not really good about calling people on the phone or keeping in touch with them, but Mom is. And she calls pretty often. We used to talk just about every Monday afternoon. And we can talk for hours! I guess we're catching up on the 20 years of my life that we didn't know each other. Plus we have a lot in common--namely the three sons we each have--there are always lots of stories to share!

So, Sandra Lynn Leichner, AKA Sandie, AKA Mom, AKA Oma . . .

Happy 60th Birthday!!

Oops, I let the cat out of the bag. (It's okay, Mom, no one will believe me.)

I love this picture from soon after Jeremy & Hannah's births--Mom is so happy! There's nowhere she'd rather be than with her grandkids.

Mom & Dad on one of many vacations they take together.

Sorry the picture is dark & hard to see everyone. This was our last trip to Gatlinburg with the whole Leichner clan. I know Mom is so proud of her family!

Special story written by Mom L.

2006-10-19T09:40:00.000-05:00

I know I've given you a lot to read about today, but I have this story that Mom wrote that I think is really sweet. She wrote it about a memory she has of another special woman she knew over 50 years ago. I've been saving it so I can share it with others on my blog, & I think her birthday is a good day to do it. So without further ado . . .

When I was six years old, my best friend was a red-haired, freckle-faced tomboy named Penny. One August afternoon, as we were trying to decide whether to roller-skate or play hopscotch, we were greeted by Mrs. Clarke. She lived across the street from us and had been my father's Sunday School teacher when he was a child. Sometimes she'd make me giggle with her memories of his not-so-reverent antics.

She was an ample woman and wore her grey hair in an old-fashioned bun. She had rosy cheeks and her eyes twinkled behind wire-rimmed glasses. Her voice was rich and deep and she spoke with an endearing lisp.

She leaned heavily on her cane asking if we would help her. She explained that she had not been playing her piano and thought if we would accompany her with our singing it would help her practice. She said she had gotten "rusty." I didn't notice any rust, but got my Mom's "okay" and we followed Mrs. Clarke.

Her parlor was filled with beautiful over-stuffed and dark carved wood furniture generously topped with lots of lace doilies. Penny and I perched ourselves on either side of this great lady seated on the polished piano bench. She took a book with gold letters on its cover and began to leaf through the pages. When she found just the right one, she smiled. Propping the book on a little ledge, she began to play. The music was beautiful and I marveled as her plump fingers danced lightly across the yellowed keyboard.

Suddenly she stopped and asked why we weren't singing along. Embarrassed I confessed that we couldn't read many words beyond those found in our First Grade Primer. Nodding knowingly and without a hint of amusement Mrs. Clarke set out to tackle the problem. Word by word, with much patience, she taught us to memorize the words of the entire song. Once or twice she offered us her delicious lemonade. When we could recite all the words, she felt we were ready to actually sing them.

Mrs. Clarke played the introduction then nodded her head. Penny and I belted out the words we'd learned with such enthusiasm many in the neighborhood must have heard us.

How wonderful I thought it sounded--our high-pitched six-year-old voices and the magic sound coming from Mrs. Clarke's piano!

When the song was over we looked to her for approval. She broke into a broad grin and said, "That was truly lovely." Penny and I looked at each other and we couldn't help grinning too!

And so it was I learned "What A Friend We Have In Jesus."

As the summer wore on we learned other hymns, drank more lemonade, and enjoyed the companionship of our dear Mrs. Clarke. But to this day when I sing "What A Friend We Have In Jesus," part of me becomes six years old again."

Can I Please Melt Some Towels?

2006-10-17T12:17:00.000-05:00

I know, strange post title. Jeremy just asked me, "Can I please melt some towels?" and I was trying REALLY REALLY hard to figure out what in the world he was talking about. I finally realized that his "t" in "towels" was a "k" sound, as he cannot pronounce "k" sounds, but instead they come out as "t"s. I still, though, didn't understand what he was asking: "Melt some cows?"

"No," Jeremy says, "melt some tows."

"I don't really understand what you're asking, Jeremy; can you say it again?"

"Can I please melt some tows?"

"Jeremy, are you saying, 'cows'?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so you want to melt some cows?"

"No, can I please melt some tows." (what a polite little boy, he really did say "please" every time!)

"Oh, oh, I gotcha, you want to MILK some COWS!!!"

"YES!"

I couldn't really answer him through my laughter. But really, do you see a cow around here, Jeremy??

You have so much to read from me today! What fun! Hope you're not as cold & rainy as we are!! (It's that stinky fall again!)

Thanks for playing!

2006-10-17T09:16:00.000-05:00

I am very happy to see 9 comments on my last post (even though 2 are mine & one was an extra one of Molly's from some phantom blog name). But I know there are more of you out there!! We just need one more to be a winner!! Who was holding out for #7?? Go to my last post if you'd like to participate in a fun little game.

Seriously, I really appreciated all of you playing, especially those of you that don't normally respond to these surveys. (When I've gotten emails in the past like this, I have answered about half of them--sometimes they are too long!) Next time I will try to think of more clever answers, although I'm not very clever, so it might take a while. I'm open to suggestions. I have also seen movie trivia questions on other blogs, but I don't remember quotes from movies very well, so I wouldn't even be able to come up with good questions. We'll see.

Hope you're having a good week so far!

I do not like questions that begin with

2006-10-16T13:43:00.000-05:00

"What's your favorite . . . ?" i.e., "What's your favorite food?" "What's your favorite movie?" Some people might be able to answer those questions definitively, but not me! I have a hard time picking a favorite anything. I might be able to answer generally, "I really like action films that have romance in them," or "I like Italian food . . . and Mexican . . . and just about everything my Mom cooked when I was growing up."

Having said that, I love to hear what other people's answers are to those questions. I like to know what your favorite candy bar is so that when I want to send you something special, I can pick it up & you know that I know something about you, & that makes you feel good. I like to know that we like the same kind of movies, or that you & I would both cry while reading the same book.

I have noticed on other people's blogs that sometimes they post polls/surveys. They have a list of questions that you post a comment to answer. I have a lot of fun seeing what others say to those, so I'm going to try it. I'm going to feel real idiotic, though, if NO ONE responds. Will you do me a favor? I promise to keep it short & light (no deep questions) if you will please please please respond!! I actually have a goal to make this the most-responded-to post yet (I think that means I need 7 comments). The lucky #7 commenter will win a prize! (I'm not telling what the prize is yet) I'm actually going to help y'all out by posting my answers as the first comment (so, see? We only need 6 more! But if you happen to be the 8th commenter, don't hesitate to buzz in too!)

Okay, here's the survey (thanks in advance for your participation!!):

1. What type of movie do you most enjoy watching?
2. What is the last song you remember listening to?
3. What one thing most drives you absolutely crazy??
4. If your house was on fire, what 3 things would you NEED to bring with you? (for our purposes, children, pets, & spouses do not have to be included)
5. What's your middle name?
6. What's your favorite candy bar? :)

Bonus question to answer if you want to: What is your favorite Christmas memory?

Only 6 questions (plus an optional one)--that's not so bad! You can do it!

What would you do?

2006-10-16T07:09:00.000-05:00

There is a cat door in the door that leads down to our basement. And actually, the door has gotten knocked off, but there is still a hole there. I find it a bit annoying. What can I do with it? Do you have any clever ideas??

(Remember, you can leave a comment even if you're not a blogger, just use "Other")

By the way, after Dee's comment, I realized that I wasn't very clear. Yes, this is a door inside our house. It's not a matter of cold air coming in the house or anything like that. But it's just an ugly hole in the bottom of a door that is seen inside our house. One idea I had was to take a picture of the kids, blow it up & have them peeking out through the hole. Just not sure how best to do that. But I also thought there might be a better idea.

Special Aunts

2006-10-12T11:44:00.000-05:00

I wanted to say a special "Hello" to some of our aunts--Aunt Nancy, Aunt Dawn, & Auntie An--who have told me they read this blog (you know, y'all can leave comments without being bloggers!! :). It is really nice to know that you like to keep up with our family and that you get to see the pictures I try to post regularly of the kids. Each of you have meant a lot to me. Whether I've known you my entire life or just for my married life, I am so glad to have you in my family!

Dan & I both grew up pronouncing the word "aunt" as "ant," but down here, in Virginia, most people say "awnt." I've heard it so much that it almost sounds funny to say "ant" now. I wonder if my kids will keep "ant" or start using "awnt." Will we have "Awnt Terri, Awnt Paige & Awnt Loni," or will they be "ants"? Well, whatever they're called, I'm as glad to have them in my kids' lives as I am to have my own aunts. We are so blessed with family!

Hope everyone's having a great week! I'll write more later...if I have anything profound to say, which I suppose isn't likely to happen. :P

The Many Sides of Jeremy

2006-10-09T12:38:00.000-05:00

The thing about Jeremy is that he either refuses to smile for the camera, or he gets into it & HAS to make a very silly face--it's always one way or the other--but both of them are HIS way. You have to decide whether or not it's worth it to fight about it. Usually, it's not. :)

When we went to the ballpit, Jeremy was a brilliant older brother. He made Derek laugh, helped him into areas that were hard for him to get to, threw balls to him, etc. He kept hiding under the balls (with the colors of his clothes, he really blended in), & then played peek-a-boo with Derek. So sweet! I love it!

The kids all love to take pictures with the camera, but Jeremy especially. At our last soccer game, all of us bundled up & trying to stay warm, I asked Jeremy to sit in my lap to keep me warm. He agreed, under the condition that I would let him take a picture. I said, "Deal," he hopped up into my lap, & proceeded to take a picture of us together--problem was it was still zoomed in from me taking a pic of Nathan on the field. Whoops!

This was one of those times that I was lucky enough to get a semi-smile from Jeremy. I love the many "faces" of Jeremy--he looks so different in every picture I take of him. He has many facets of his personality too; like feeling lucky about getting the smile in this picture, sometimes you feel really lucky to see one of those special hidden corners of his heart. His true personality only comes out when he's in a really comfortable place, with family or close friends. Most of the time he seems reserved and shy; with family he is a crazy loon who can be really funny and also really caring. My favorite part about the kids' bedtime is getting a silly kiss from Jeremy--he has to kiss you at least 3 times on the cheek, & the whole thing is really quite goopy. Rather than get offended about you wiping it off, he'll tease you! What a character.

Adventures in the Life of Derek

2006-10-08T21:47:00.000-05:00

Yes, I took pictures of my son's first major injury. I don't think the pictures do it justice, though. Today his eye is more swollen & bruised. We were all getting ready for church yesterday morning, when Dan brings a crying Derek to me in the bathroom where I was drying my hair.
Apparently (no one knows for sure because Derek was by himself), Derek fell onto our coffeetable--no sharp corners or anything, just rounded edges, but he insists that's where he got hurt. Needless to say, we missed Bible class, & there was quite a ruckus around Derek with everyone at church asking what happened to his eye.

I took the two younger boys to BK the other day for lunch & then spent a while playing in the ballpit. There are 2 BKs in our town, & the other one has a nicer, larger playground, but this one has a ballpit & we don't go to this one very often. I don't think Derek's been here yet, so it was a special treat.

Derek is amazingly strong. He can pull himself up onto things without having anything for him to push his legs on. He climbs onto Jeremy's dresser & then pulls himself up onto the top bunkbed. It is crazy!

Derek really enjoys drinking his milk after his cereal, like his big brothers do. Since this is the most enthusiasm I ever get from them for drinking milk, I don't discourage it!

Hope you had fun exploring the fun of an almost-2-year-old! Stay tuned for similar posts about my other two. :)

Biscuit Finds a Friend

2006-10-06T07:04:00.000-05:00

Can I just brag about my oldest son real quick?? He read a book all by himself last night without any help, and I'm so proud! Here's what he read:

Woof! Woof!
What has Biscuit found?
Is it a ball?
Woof!
Is it a bone?
Woof!
Quack!
It is a little duck.
The little duck is lost.
Woof! Woof!
We will bring the little duck back to the pond.
Woof! Woof!
Here, little duck.
Here is the pond.
Here are your mother and your father.
Quack!
Here are your brothers and your sisters.
Quack!
The ducks say thank you.
Thank you for finding the little duck.
Quack!
The little duck wants to play.
Quack!
Woof!
Quack!
Woof! (there are pictures of the duck & dog playing)
Splash!
Biscuit fell into the pond!
Silly Biscuit.
You are all wet!
Woof!
Oh no, Biscuit.
Not a big shake!
Woof!
Time to go home, Biscuit.
Quack! Quack!
Say good-bye, Biscuit.
Woof! Woof!
Good-bye, little duck.
Biscuit has found a new friend.

So, pretty impressive, huh?
Reading the book again this morning to Derek, Nathan informed him that one "Woof" means "no," and two "woofs" mean "yes." Cute.

By the way, yes, I changed the appearance of my blog. I downloaded Blogger Beta, & felt like exploring the differences. I was able to easily change the color/font scheme after choosing a template. I will probably do this a lot. My dad asked me about it & said that it reminded him of how my mom likes to rearrange rooms sometimes. I like to do that too. I like change. I like to mow the lawn a little differently each time. I like to occasionally rearrange a room, or even a small corner of the room like my desk (this bothers Dan because he arranges room from the get-go with much planning & thoughts of efficiency, so changing it would question his judgment for the best arrangement for the room). I like to put clothes in different places each time I change the seasonal clothes out. I think "change" is the reason I like to buy new clothes, too (unless it's just that I like to spend money & get new things). So, yeah, you can expect my blog appearance to change occasionally.

Hope that doesn't bother you. :)

In God's presence

2006-10-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

(If you haven't read my other post from this morning, "beautiful moments," this is a follow-up to that, so check it out first)

It is so amazing how your Bible study can tie in to your life at that moment in a way you've never related to before. I read a blog this morning posted by Patrick Mead that discussed the "present" of God's presence. Tonight in Bible class we studied James 4:1-12. We discussed "the battle within," which can occur because you want things you can't have and you get angry when you don't get the things you ask God for. We followed this with much discussion about how to be so in sync with God (to be righteous--i.e., have a right relationship with God), that you are at peace within, you want what God wants. We talked about those moments when you are at peace, despite all that is going on around you, & how you can prolong that peace. How can we remember this passage ALL the time, even when things are spinning out of control around us? It took me back to earlier this morning when I was walking in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I literally FELT the presence of God in a way that I, unfortunately, don't feel often enough. I was there for a good part of the day, but at some point I drifted. The cause of the "separation," if you will, was obviously not God. It was me. At some point I began to let stresses get to me, and pull me away from that peace.

What do you do to keep yourself in God's presence?

(By the way, amazingly another connection to this thought was in Jen Gorham's blog this very day, "Discovering God in the waiting"). When you have something on the brain, you are bound to find it everywhere! Feel free to check out her blog, which is linked in the sidebar)

beautiful moments

2006-10-04T10:55:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you feel God's presence as sure as if He was walking right beside you with His arm around your shoulders.

Sometimes my days are so long and lonesome and emotional that I go to bed weary and worn out. I usually, however, wake up happy (within an hour, at least) and am glad to start another day. I didn't have anyone to babysit today, and no other pressing appointments except to get to the store to do my October grocery shopping.

Walking from the car to the front of the store, Derek in my arms, Jeremy's hand in mine, I felt such an overwhelming sense of happiness, like there was nowhere I'd rather be at that moment. I was so grateful to be there with my two younger children and my God right beside me.

What a joyful moment, right there in the middle of Wal-Mart's parking lot! I love moments like that which can set the tone for the rest of the day. What a gift from God!

I kissed my little Derek on the head, squeezed my grown-up Jeremy's hand and prepared to face the day. It shouldn't be too hard since it is absolutely beautiful out (it's more like summer than fall, after all).

Here's to my girlfriends!

2006-10-02T21:41:00.000-05:00

"I am only as strong as the caffeine I drink, the hair spray I use and the girlfriends I have."

I got the cutest email from my college roommate today that featured this quote & others. The email was about celebrating girlfriends. I am so blessed with the many friends God has given me during the various phases of my life. Even in my loneliest moments I knew that if I needed to I could call on one of them to help lift me up and give me the words of wisdom I needed to hear. I recently discovered several old college friends (I say "old" as if we've been out of school for decades!) through blogging. My roommate & I don't keep in touch very well, but she always forwards these cute emails & we email each other updates occasionally. Two other friends that were in my wedding also keep in sporadic touch (I really have more to do with the sporadic than they do) via the web. Another friend from college days & my wedding, who's still in NJ, is really good about checking up on me. I love my sis-in-laws, and I'm so proud to call them family! I have a really great sister, who is my best friend. And in the past few years I have developed several close relationships with beautiful women of God right here in my community. I am blessed in friendship, indeed!

"I am too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed!"

Of course, I have wonderful friendships with two women that may not necessarily consider our primary relationship that of friendship, but they are truly dear friends of mine that I would not want to live without--they are the friends I have in my mom & my mom-in-law. What better sermon do you get than that of a life lived walking in the steps of our Lord?

To my dear girlfriends I say:
"To the world you might be one person,
But to one person you just might be the world."

I'm declaring this Friendship Day (I think October was declared Friendship Month by the Winnie-the-Pooh calender I had in high school). Happy Friendship Day, my friends!

Welcome, Fall

2006-10-01T20:47:00.000-05:00

Are we never satisfied with what we have?
That was my mom’s question after I blogged about autumn when she commented that she, being in FL, is now missing the autumn.

I know that most of you may not read this as often as I add new blogs (& I admit that I can be a bit ridiculous at times, writing every day or even more than once a day). So to refresh your memory or just let you know about a blog I posted on Sept. 21, I wrote about how much I dislike the fall. Now, I don’t know why my feelings about autumn & winter have changed, but this is the first year I can remember complaining so much about the seasons changing (maybe it’s just that I have this new medium with which to complain!). In the past, I have appreciated the change to fall, looking forward to beautifully changing leaves & dressing the kids up for Halloween, apple cider & pumpkin-decorating, Christmastime & snow. To be sure, I have definitely always enjoyed spring & summer more than the colder seasons. But I enjoyed the other changes & even appreciated the fact that the colder seasons help me look forward to & appreciate the warmer seasons all the more. Maybe I am experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder (see Patrick Mead’s blog about SAD, if you’re curious about it); or maybe I am just in a low cycle of my life; or maybe, now more than ever, I am really not enjoying being cold all the time (and I am, cold all the time). But my friend Jen Gorham’s comments made me rethink my feelings on autumn & seasons changing. Jen grew up in Florida, went to Harding with me, and has now lived in Chicago for a little while. So, she’s experienced various climates. She is also a very wise person. :) What she had to share is something I might have thought about before, but could never have put it so eloquently. So I’m just going to quote what she had to say about the seasons.

“Okay so I realize that people have really different perspectives on things because after 5 years of living in Chicagoland I LOVE the winter trees. The rhythm of the seasons is so beautiful to me, and the crisp edges of being able to see the tree in its nakedness is something incredible in my eyes. They are stark, they are dark, they have nothing to hide. It makes spring so amazingly wonderful when it comes! But those stark trees remind me that I have lots of things in my life to shed, and that there are seasons in life where God calls me to a new level of “nakedness” with him and others. And that there is nothing to fear, as spring comes with regularity. There has never been a year when winter is the only season we have. Amazing his faithfulness through this rhythm. Anyway, I know that they are ugly, but maybe this gives another perspective!”

It does give another perspective. Thanks, Jen!

By the way, I still think I’d rather live somewhere warm all the time. After all, God didn’t make the entire world to experience the seasonal changes we have in this part of the world, so surely He doesn’t mind that some people would prefer to be in warmer climates. But I can appreciate the seasons while I’m here . . . which will probably be a long, long time! I'll just appreciate the cooler weather better when I have a nice cup of hot apple cider to keep me warm. Mmmm.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

2006-09-30T21:48:00.000-05:00

You know what makes you feel old? When your 5-yr-old hears a song that you grew up with & says, "Hey, that's from Shrek!" I'm talking about YMCA, & yes, I know that it was before even my time. But when you're sitting at a baseball game & the song is played, & he says, "I know that song!" it just makes you laugh that he thinks it was original to his time. Tonight we were walking to our car in the rain after being at a friend's house & Nathan said, "I'm melting!" I laughed, wondering where he heard that because I don't think he's seen The Wizard of Oz, & in the car he was talking to Jeremy about the time Donkey said, "I'm melting!" Oh dear. The way my kids age me. I guess I did it to my folks, & they to their folks. It's a song for the ages.

We had a lovely housewarming party tonight, which was planned by Angela, a good friend from church. Many of our friends, along with our minister & an elder & his wife, were here. It was so great! It was fun to show off the house we've worked so hard for, & I just love entertaining! After having finger foods at our house, we all drove over to another friend's house to continue our "progressive" housewarming party with dessert and more visiting. It was fun to enjoy being at someone else's house too.

To get ready for the party, I cleaned for the better part of the day. And I had If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in mind because of the sporadic way I tend to go about cleaning when it's a big project (rather than just one chore I have to complete). So here's my little spin on the series of books like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. If you've never heard of these books, you ought to find a copy at your local library. Kids love 'em! They start with "If you give a mouse a cookie," or "if you give a pig a pancake," & the story continues with various cause & effect relationships. For instance, "If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want some milk to go with it. When he gets the milk out of the refrigerator, he's going to want to draw a picture for your refrigerator." I don't think that's how it goes exactly, but it's something like that. So here goes...

If you start a load of laundry, on the way to the basement with your basket of clothes you will pass by the kitchen & realize you need to put away the dishes in the dish drainer so your husband can wash the next load of dishes.
So you'll stop & put some dishes away.
While you're putting the cups in the cabinet, on the counter you will see a piece from a boardgame that was left out the last time you & the kids were playing that game.
So you take the game piece down to the playroom to put it away.
On the way to the basement you'll find the basket of laundry you were going to take down to put in the washer.
So you'll take both of them down to the basement, where you will discover LOTS of toys left out in the playroom.
So you'll gather all the kids to help you clean up the toys.
While you're cleaning up the toys you'll find a pair of socks & shoes tucked under the loveseat that need to be taken up to your youngest child's room.
So you'll leave the kids to finish the cleaning & take the shoes & socks upstairs. When you put the shoes & socks in the closet, you'll notice the bin that you stuck in there that has the winter clothes in them.
You know you need to get the winter clothes out of the bin & into the kids' dressers, so you'll get the clothes out & sort them.
When you're sorting the clothes, you'll come across several items that no longer fit anyone, so you'll fill the bin-previously-labeled-"Winter Clothes" with "Too-Small" clothes & take it down to the basement.
When you pass through the play room to get to the storage part of the basement, you'll notice the kids have not made any progress cleaning since you left.
So you stop & help them finish cleaning.
You'll notice a stack of pictures on the desk that need to be sorted & put away, so you'll sort through them while the kids finish cleaning the last of the toys.
When you finish with the pictures you take them to the storage part of the basement where you notice you left both the bin of too-small clothes & the basket of dirty laundry.
So you'll put the bin away, start a load of laundry, then walk into the playroom where the kids STILL haven't finished cleaning!
You finish putting away toys with the kids, & feel like you are finally making progress with your list of chores.
You walk up the stairs to sit down & take a break.
But when you get to the top of the stairs . . .
you look into the kitchen & see that there is still a stack of dishes to be put away.

So much for that break!!

Friday Night Lights (well, almost)

2006-09-24T21:50:00.000-05:00

It doesn't get dark enough to need any lights, but we sure have been having a lot of family fun on Friday nights. As there are only 5 kids on the team to begin with, when one or two aren't there, it's difficult for the team to do much in practice. So this week Jeremy was recruited to help out (Derek tried too, but found it a bit tempting to knock down the goal, take other kids' balls, or completely disregard the coach's directions--go figure).

Nathan & Tyler run off the field for their water break.
Nathan cheers for his teammates during his break on the sidelines.

Tyler & Hannah Weekend

2006-09-24T21:44:00.000-05:00

Well, we enjoyed being with other members of our family (including some strange relatives from NJ), but it seemed to be a Tyler & Hannah kind of weekend. We had fun with them at the soccer game Friday night, then they spent the night with us (so their Mommy & Daddy could hopefully enjoy an evening to themselves for their anniversary), then we spent the whole day Saturday with them as Oma & Pop-Pop (our strange relatives from NJ, otherwise known as "Elmo" & "Poop-Poop") were here.
We love you, Tyler & Hannah! (And we love you too, Elmo & Poop-Poop!)

All kidding aside (which Pop-Pop will have a hard time believing), we are really glad that Dan's parents came down to see us. It's always great to be with family!

Fun with Derek

2006-09-24T21:26:00.000-05:00

What's Derek's idea of a good time (beside finding things around the house to destroy)?

Sliding down a slide at least a dozen times in a row, going backwards, of course!

This boy just had a ball yesterday doing the same thing over & over again.

And can you tell who else enjoyed his sliding adventures?

(me!)

Poison Ivy 101

2006-09-24T21:22:00.000-05:00

I've always had the hardest time knowing for sure when I see poison ivy. Well, not anymore! I received lessons on poison ivy over the weekend, & I will carry these pictures with me everywhere.

Caution: some of you might get poison ivy just from looking at these pictures...Oops, too late!

At first glance you might think these three are the best of buds . . .

2006-09-24T21:17:00.000-05:00

At second glance they still are!

2006-09-24T21:12:00.000-05:00