Ready for the weekend… May 9, 2008

I’m sitting in the recliner with my feet up. It’s going to be a LONG night for me I’m afraid since I just accidentally popped 3 excederin migraine pills. Oops! I went in there after Tylenol and wasn’t thinking apparently. Hopefully I’ll get some sleep tonight. And I hope the headache goes away.

We took off this afternoon and went shopping. I bought a super cute new pair of shoes (slipper?). They are a pair of brown plaid super-cute shoes! And they are really warm! I’m not sure they are something that I’d wear out and about, but they’ll be great for kicking around the house.

 Oh! Did I mention that they were only $8!!!

And while I’m all snuggled into my chair, I’m gear up to watch the Phil Wickham concert FREE on his blog via mogulus. Go check it out – http://philwickham.com/blog  He’s recording a live record tonight while he’s there and streaming it free online while it’s going on. I’m off to listen…

Tackling Tuesday… April 29, 2008

There are two days left in April – if you count today – and I’m FREEZING! It’s 45 degrees outside. I thought we left Minnesota 10 years ago??? My body does not like to work when it’s this cold outside! I want to stay in, curled up under blankets and drinking coffee!

But, I don’t have time for that. My days are filling quickly. Thankfully Tuesdays are one of only two days a week that we don’t have to be on the ballfield. I’m currently at home and finishing up giving baths to the littlest two. Kait is taking my place at the church this morning and helping set stuff up for the rummage sale. She’s loving it and loving the attention of all the wonderful grandmas and grandpas over there. I’m sure they’re loading her up with cookies and snacks and I’ll be the one to pay for it later, but at least my sneez-y allergies aren’t bothering me this morning.

Elijah and I have to sit down and figure out the best week for him to go to camp. I’ve got loads of design stuff to do for the church. I need to refigure the signage for the rummage sale this weekend, start working on baccalaureate, tweak some other signage and sermon graphics and CALL MY GRAM because her birthday was 2 days ago and I still haven’t talked to her!

OH! And my new books have finally arrived. What I really want to do is sit down, snuggle in and start to digest Pop Goes The Church by Tim Stevens. Or I Became A Christian And All I Got Was This Lousy TShirt by Vince Antonucci (although this one has already made it’s way to Chip’s office so it may be a while before I see it again).

OH! And everything I have to do today must be done before dinner. Because after dinner, we have to go find a pair of cleats that fit Elijah’s ever-growing feet! Which are now as big as mine!!!! And I should probably sort through the assortment of cleats in the closet to see if we have any for Kait and Noah. I don’t want to go cleat shopping more than once!

All that before I come home tonight to blog about American Idol. At least *that* I can do from the comforts of my snuggly blanket!

Sorry, my plans changed… March 29, 2008

I had plans yesterday for my blog. I was going to post pictures (which I’ll most likely do later today), I was going to start blogging about The Office from this season, I was going to update my blogroll…

But the best laid plans…

We decided very impromptu to take the kids to a movie yesterday. Then it turned into us driving over to Springfield to White Oaks Cinema. Which turned into a shopping trip and well, we didn’t get home until after 10pm and then I was just tired!

We went and saw National Treasure: Book of Secrets. GREAT movie! Not quite as good as the first, but still great. Probably would have been better if the boys and Chip hadn’t climbed over me 20 times to go to the bathroom. And it wasn’t just Seth either. Next time we get them a SMALL drink to split. ROFL

We hit the mall after we were done with the movie. I don’t think we bought anything at the mall – not for lack of trying. I’m in search of a perfect pair of jeans. I have a pair, but they are beyond the needed “niceness” to wear to church. And I have a pair of almost perfect jeans, but the zipper is broken on them and it just doesn’t want to stay up anymore. But we didn’t find any and since we’d skipped lunch, we decided to go to Chili’s and eat with the old people. That’s right – dinner BEFORE 5pm!

Well, actually we sat down to eat before 5pm, but it was after 5pm before we got our food. I had the Chipotle Bacon Bleu Cheeseburger. OH MY!!!  It was delicious! I got a bite of hotness at least twice that I remember sending shivers straight down my spine. It was GREAT!!! I love a good bit of spicy!

We hit the bookstore after dinner where I bought two new chic lit books – hopefully they’ll be good. I love the discount book section. I got both books for about half of what just one would have cost retail. We went to Target and bought a vacuum cleaner (something we desperately needed) and a few other odds and ends. Oh – and a DVD recorder (on clearance). I’m hoping that we can record some of the movies off the DVR. It’s starting to be wonky again and I don’t want to lose all of the movies we have on there when we have to send for another replacement.

And of course in the process of it all, we stopped at Starbucks before coming home to watch The Office. Season 3. Disc 3. I’m so glad that this show is coming back!

Oh! And in honor of The Office (and because it works out perfect), I’m going to review the 8 episodes once a day Monday – Friday starting this next Monday. That should put me doing episode 8 on April 9th (my birthday) – the day before The Office comes back with Dinner Party. I. Can. Not. Wait!!!!

So, I had plans for yesterday, but I ditched them to spend time with my family. Because when it comes to family, my blog will lose every time…

Rainy days and Tuesdays always… March 18, 2008

mean lots and lots of laundry! Tuesdays are my equivalent on Monday. Mondays are Chip’s day off. We get to spend the entire day together and generally have a lot of fun. It’s probably like a lot of y’all have on Saturdays or Sundays – which are incredibly stressful/busy days for us. But Monday! I love Mondays! The weekend services are behind us. We have a day of rest before we have to start the push to the next Sunday. And we just like to have FUN!

So, yesterday, we went SHOPPING!!!  Kait and I needed new Easter clothes, so we hit the mall! The Littles were at Chip’s parents house, so it was just the Bigs and Lexi with us.

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I interrupt this regularly scheduled blogging for this CRAZY story…

I was sitting here blogging when I heard the refrigerator door open. I thought it was Seth. He’s turned into quite the little food stealing monster lately and is constantly getting into something from the fridge. So, I figured I’d sneak in there and startle him a bit. What I found when I got to the kitchen was absolutely unbelievable!

It was *not* Seth in the refrigerator. It was Daisy. Our beagle/basset mix. Our bagel. Had opened the refrigerator door and had pulled out the leftover stromboli from dinner last night and was happily chomping away. I think I hollered something like “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” just as Tom and Lexi walked in the door.

What in the world? How did the dog get the fridge open? Can she do it again or was it a fluke thing? And apparently we have to remember to start using the lock on the refrigerator (it’s really a toilet lock, but it works) regulary. Not to keep the kids out, but to keep the DOG out!

Un.be.lievable.

You may now tune in to your reguarly scheduled blog reading…

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Anyhoo, so we hit the mall! And it was a VERY productive day of shopping! Not only did I find what I was looking for, but I actually found a pair of brown dress shoes that fit! And were on sale for only $15!!! SCORE! Chip found a shirt he liked. Kait got a cute pair of black ballet flats as her reward for cleaning out the van for me. The three boys all got new polo shirts for Easter. Kait got a new pair of jeans because suddenly every pair she has are suddenly too small or have a big, gaping hole in the knee and I do *not* take kids in public with holes in their knees! It was a long, successful, arguement-free day at the mall! I love retail therapy!

Still shaking my head over that whole dog thing…

And tune back in tonight for my almost-live blogging commentary on American Idol…

I deserve a break today… March 14, 2008

So, I’m sitting here after dinner. All of a sudden, Noah is whining and saying he’s sick. Again. We tell him to go get the bucket and sit on the couch. 20 minutes later, he’s filling that bucket as I hum quietly to myself with my hands over my ears and my eyes squeezed shut so tightly that I’m pretty sure that I can actually see the inside of my eyelids. Chip helped him to the bathroom (have I ever told y’all that I have *THE* most *AMAZING* husband? Seriously, he deserves a medal of some sort after this past week) and I sat down to do what I do best.

You see, two days ago, I found amazingly cute shoes on Skechers.com and I great big puffy heart them. I’ve seen them in the store, but when I found them online for 60% off on some special sale, well, it was a good thing Chip was gone with the debit card at the time. Have I ever told y’all that I’m an impulse buyer? When I see something that I really want, I don’t want to have to wait. I want what I want and I want it now. I *am* from the microwave generation after all.  I did send Chip an email and tell him that I wanted them. He just kind of shrugged. He never said that I couldn’t have them.

But after enduring what I have this week in the Land O’Vomit (see, I’m going all St. Patricky on y’all a couple days early), I figure I deserve these shoes, right?  So, I sat down tonight and bought them. Yes I did. And for only $22. The only thing I love more than great shoes are great shoes at a great price.

Aren’t they cute?

So, sometime next week, I’ll be sporting some new, amazingly cute shoes! Hopefully by then we’ll have left the nastiness that is this week behind us…

Sunday bulletin and silly answers… February 24, 2008

• Sometimes God asks us to do things that make no sense at all to us at the time. That maybe will never make sense to us. But He has a plan and our obedience can have eternal effects. I want to live a life that affects change in lives that are yet to come.
• It had been a LONG time since I’d been to Starbucks. We met up with Chip’s sister and her husband for lunch today – along with Chip’s parents and grandma. I had a triple grande non-fat, no-whip mocha. YUM! I’m already ready to go again.
• The lettuce wedge at Lonestar Steakhouse was much better when they use to put actual bleu cheese crumbles on it instead of just bleu cheese dressing. It was still amazing though!
• I haven’t even heard of half of the movies nomiated for Oscars, let alone seen any of them. Acutally, I’m not sure I’ve seen ANY of the movies they are talking about other than Pirates 3. *edit* I take that back – I’ve seen the Bourne Ultimatum. Twice in the theater and we bought it the day it came out. Just won an award for sound editing. And for sound mixing.

Ok – and the follow-up to my “Ask a silly question…” post. I got quite a few questions and here are the answers…

Who is your favorite cartoon character? I don’t really have one. My favorite cartoon movie is a three way tie between Disney movies Robin Hood, Cinderella and The Aristocats.

What is your favorite store for kids clothes? Food? I prefer stores like Old Navy, GAP, TCP for kids clothes. They just tend to hold up a little better than those from Target. For groceries, we go Krogering. Although, what I really wish is that there was a good organic food grocer somewhere nearby.

Who is your faviorte music group to listen to? Jeremy Camp, Leeland (have you heard “Carried to the Table? AMAZING song!), Third Day, Brooks & Dunn, Corrine Bailey Rae, Brad Paisley, John Mayer… My tastes are wide and varied.

Do you like ?McDonalds or the DQ play place best? As a self-proclaimed germophobe, I hate playplaces as a general rule. But we do take the kids from time to time. I prefer DQ because they have free wi-fi.

What is your favorite laundry soap? Tide – it’s the only thing I can find that will take all of the stains out of the clothes without me having to treat each spot.

What is your favorite book in the Bible? The epistles of Timothy.

Who is your favorite Bible person/people? Tough one. Probably Paul. I want to live the kind of life that makes an eternal difference in the lives of others.

Is the Mt.Zion Steak-n-Shake really better than the one on Pershing? I have no idea. The service is better in Mt. Zion, but the food is about the same. I can tell you that the cheese fries in Springfield are NOT the same as they ones in Decatur though. Don’t order cheese fries from Steak & Shake in Springfield.

Are you sick and tired of Wal-mart? I’ve been sick of Walmart for YEARS! We hardly ever shop there. I actually ran into Walmart for the first time today in a long, long time. And only because Effingham doesn’t have a Target.

Christmas decor… December 13, 2007

We’ve been busy decorating the house for Christmas. I’ve still got a bit left to do and some to do at the church as well. I’ve realized that I’m not much of a decorator. I enjoy the decorations, but not so much the actual putting up of the decorations and definitely not the taking down and putting away.

This year, my big decision has been whether or not to move my Willow Tree figures off the mantle and replace them with my snowmen. I’ve collected several metal snowmen lanterns over the past few years. And while I like them, I really do like my Willow Tree figures more.

So, I’m trying to make a decision. Do I put my snowmen on top of the china cabinet or on the mantle where they’ve sat in years past? Either way, I think I’m going to get an LED rope light to intertwine with whatever sits on the mantle. From what I’ve read, they are a bit “greener” than regular Christmas lights and they shouldn’t get hot like regular Christmas lights do.

So, now that I’ve made the decision on what  kinds of LIGHTS to put on the mantle, I guess I just need to decide what decor I’m going to put on there. Any suggestions?

When life gives you lemons… November 16, 2007

Well, it’s just better to make sure that it doesn’t.

We’re in the market for a new van. We got a “replacement” total from our insurance company and I can tell you that it is *not* enough to replace it with what we had. We’re still waiting to hear from the other insurance company.  And I’m not sure that will happen anytime soon.  We were supposed to get a call on Thursday with a number. We didn’t. Chip called today and was put through to voice mail. Guess who didn’t get a return call? So, it will be at least Monday before we hear anything at all.

So, in the meantime, I’m looking at cars online. I found our van online – even though we were able to go to the lot and pick it out and didn’t realize that it was the same van until after we had already purchased it. I’ve been spending a lot of time searching eBay for cars. We know quite a few people who have bought cars on eBay and been quite happy with the results. I guess I’m just a bit worried about ending up with a lemon car. But since they seem to be taking their sweet time getting us a number, it’s not exactly like we can actually *buy* anything.

Ok, I’ll stop before I start whining again about how much it sucks that we don’t have a car of our own and the rental we have we can’t put our entire family in.  I guess I should just be happy we’re all walking away without any permanent injuries. I mean thanksgiving is just around the corner, maybe I should spend this week trying to be a bit more thankful.

Belly up to the bar… October 28, 2007

As a result of our recent accident, we ran into a problem at church this morning.  Chip stole my stool.  Our soundboard at the church – where I sit to run the computer for the powerpoint and help with the sound system – is too tall for me to see over.  And while I could watch the monitor, I prefer to be able to actually see my amazing husband while he preaches.  So, a friend gave us a stool that they had no need for.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have two!

Chip really banged his knee up in the wreck.  It’s an array of colors from blue to green to yellowish purple.  And it’s swollen.  And it hurts to walk on.  So, obviously, it hurt to stand and preach.  We are Pentecostals after all! ROFL

So, he stole my stool.  I ended up on the organ bench (which is just barely tall enough) instead of on my comfy stool.  I told him that he looked “cool and hip” up there sitting on a stool, but if he was going to have to preach from a stool for any length of time, we were going to have to find him one of his own.

So, I did what I do best!  I started looking online!  WOW! Are those things expensive!  Especially if you want to find one that makes quality stools that will look good up in front of a crowd.  I did find an amazing metal bar stool that I think I’d rather have for myself though.  I love that the seat swivels (the one I currently have doesn’t) because I do a lot of getting up and down to reach things on the far end of the sound board (not too often, but it does happen).

We’ll wait until we see the dr again to see how his knee is feeling and if there will be any long term effects before we decide what we want to do.  Hopefully this will all be a moot point and he’ll be running around chasing the kids again soon.

Guess I just wanted to break up the monotony of all this accident talk.  Because I’m sure there will be a lot of that kind of talk over the coming weeks as we work to get things straighted out with drs and with our van.

Going through the archives… September 28, 2007

Because I recently downloaded my archives, I’ve been going back and doing a lot of reading.  Looking at what point in my life I had the most to say or hardly had anything to say at all.  February of 06 was particularly rough because Chip was sick for 6 weeks at that point.  I was hardly posting at all.  March found him even sicker and in the hospital and me posting more than ever as I worked to keep y’all updated.

In the midst of all of that though, I found a post on Tuesday, March 14th that was little more than a meme.  But as I read through last night, I found myself stuck on question #8.  What would I do with a BILLION dollars?

That’s a LOT of money.  I’m sure I’d give most of it away.  I’d invest for the future.  And I’d buy some property.  I mean, if you like city living, why not buy property in the city?  And because my husband wasn’t home last night until 1:30am, it gave me a bit of time to play online.

I found some really interesting Upper West Side apartments in NYC.  Those apartments are AMAZING!  I think it would be cool to have an apartment in a big city somewhere that I could let friends and family and pastors go and hang out in the city for a while at no cost to them.  Because with a BILLION dollars, I could definitely afford that kind of thing!  And it would be kind of cool to be able to escape to New York or Chicago (as in my original post) for a weekend or a week every once in a while!