Winning Streak

The Music Man won an iPod.

I won a book.

Maybe I'll win this...

So Sorry...

I just want you all to know that I haven't died yet.  Now I know I have been saying that for two months.  I keep putting you off and for that I apologize.  I have been working on the second installment of where I've been for a week and a half now and it's still not done.  Whenever I do finish it, you'll understand why I haven't been able to post regularly.   But for now, the excuse I'm going to use is that I'm sick.  I seem to have caught some sort of bug and it's really working me over.  Sooo... until the day I'm feeling better, I'm off.  

So sorry for the flimsy excuse.  You love me anyway, right?

Cloggers II

Have I ever mention how much I hate unclogging other people's "stuff" from the toilet?

Just curious.

Coffee Table du Jour

I was just reading one of my daily blog reads, decor8, and fell in love with this quirky piece that they had posted about.

Isn't it the coolest idea you've ever seen?  I love how it looks like the coffeetable is coming out of the wall!  It remind me of something, but I can't quite figure out what.  

I have got to do this.  Now, I can't possibly afford $525, but I can do it myself.  I'm on a mission now to find a couple of old coffee tables to slice in half and stack one on top of the other.  What a great place to stack my books!

Speaking of coffee tables....I found these fun coffee tables on this great blog yesterday. 

I'm not really one for anything too modern or clean.  I like a more rustic, eclectic hodge-podge of stuff, but there is something so incredibly wonderful about these little tables.  My heart flipped when I saw them, but at $10,500 and $7,300 respectively there is no way that I will ever own one of them, unless of course God deems it necessary to sell a few cattle on one of His thousand hills for me.  

Can you even image spending that kind of $$$ on coffee tables!?  But they are just so cool!!!  Not very baby-proof, but I don't think you buy something like that if you have children.  Those scream uppity 40-something society couple who are far more concerned with appearances than with populating the world with sticky, smelly children.  Sounds just like me, huh?

I'm Scared

I checked my email this morning and there was NOTHING in my inbox!  That hasn't happen in years!  I usually have anywhere from 10-20 emails every morning.  

Has everyone been raptured?  Where are you?  More importantly, where's Stacey?  I always have at least 17 emails from her alone.  Girlfriend!!!  Are you ok????

Why I've Been Neglecting My Blog: Part I

First, can I just say how sorry I am for pushing this blog and you, my faithful 3 readers, to the back burner?  I truly am... sorry that is.  I have been oh-so crazy busy and I'm afraid that there is no real end in sight.  It appears as though my life of leisure has turned into a life on the run.  Let me explain a bit...

It all started in August when we left for a two-week vacation.  We spent the first week in Indianapolis, child-free--thank you Jesus!  You can read all about that here in my Diary of GC: Day One, Two, Three, Four, Five: Part One, & Part Two, and Six.  We then returned to my in-laws and spent the following week there with family and friends.

The Music Man received a huge rc plane as a gift while in OH.  He fell in love instantly.  I never saw him again that whole week.

Natalie was already into her second week of undivided attention from her mamaw, so I really never saw her either.  

You may remember my little mis-hap with my beautiful friend Amazon and the horrible temptress that is the 1-Click button from earlier this summer.  The day before we left for vacation, The Music Man told me that all those glorious books had turned my mind to mush.  He dared me to go the whole vacation reading only books that would enrich my mind.  His suggestion... 

Seriously???  But I rose to the challenge and left with my brain food books and all my homeschool stuff.  

;

By mid-week of the second week, with The Music Man's eyes to the sky and Natalie completely ignoring me, I thought I was going to go crazy with boredom.  I so did not want to read the serious books I had brought with me--HELLO?!?!  I'm on vacation!  I shouldn't have to enrich my mind at all.  If anything, being on vacation gives me the right to turn my mind to total mush!

So I made The Music Man take me to the most glorious book store I've been to in a long, long, long time.  He gave me a small, but still impressive wad of cash as we walked in and let me loose.  Oh my, oh my, oh my!!!  With my arms filled I headed to the bench where he sat waiting patiently for me.  The look on his face was priceless as I let the books fall beside me.  I had about $200 worth of books laying there.  I sat there and weeded them out.  Some I just made him take pictures of so I could later order them from Amazon or Paperback Swap.

DISCLAIMER:  This is not my sneaky way of announcing an upcoming ball-of-fun despite the books regarding pregnancy.  I am NOT pregnant.  It may happen someday and so, whenever that time comes--IF it ever comes, these are some of the books I would like to read.  Again, let me crystal clear... I am NOT pregnant.  Don't go shopping yet... Mom.

I did walk out with these little treasures...

So with all that (and a few others I can't seem to remember just now) in my bag, I was a very happy girl again. 

To be continued...

I know.  I know.  I haven't even begun to explain to you why I haven't been blogging here regularly, but I'm really tired and The Music Man is beginning to stress me out.  He's watching Monday Night Football.  The Bengals are beginning to screw up and he's taking it personally.  I have to get away from him and from my computer.  My skin is starting to grow around my laptop.  That's not good.  

Anyone Else Excited...

....for the return of The Office?

I know I am...

To tide you over, catch up on what everyone did on their summer vacations....

Oh and click here for more information about the company.

Diary of General Council

You may remember that I promised you a recap of our time at General Council  Well, I had every intention of doing just that.  In fact I went as far as writing it all out and posting it to our church's women's blog.  All I have to do now is copy and paste it into a new post here... 

That's too tedious.  So instead I'll give you the link to the website.  You can scroll down to Diary of General Council: Day One and work your way back up.  

In another BallRoom news, day two of preschool was a bit rougher than the first, but we did manage to make it through without comments from "baby."  I'm just happy that I only have one child to deal with.  I think a whole classroom of preschoolers would certainly be the end of me.

After school we met The Music Man for lunch.  The WHOLE way there Natalie talked, and I mean TALKED!!!  I wondered as I tried to tune it out if she was even taking the time to breathe.  As we pulled into the parking lot she sounded like this...

"Arewegoingtoparknow?Arewegoingtoparkintheparkinglot?Areweparkingintheparkingspot?Dad,doyouthinkmomwillparkintheparkingspot?Momareweparkingintheparkinglot?Mom?Mom?Mom?Dad?Dad?Dad?......"

Finally I said "No! We're going to park in the grass."  This is what followed that genius remark.

"ButMom,wecan'tparkinthegrass.Let'sparkontheparkinglot.Mom?Mom?Mom?"

I had parked (on the parking lot) by this time and we were getting out.  She was still carrying on her monologue, s Daddy set her down on the ground she leaned way down and peered under the van.  She stood up and oh-so matter of factly said...

"Nope.  We parking on the parking lot."

We lost it.  All of the frustration of endless chatter busted out in laughter (better that than anything else!).  I was laughing so hard I couldn't even walk.  

That single comment ranks right up there with another one that happened last week at dinner.  My parents were here and we were all sitting around the table.  Natalie decided that she was done and asked to be excused.  Her dad said no and told her that she hadn't even touched her food yet.

She looked at him for a split second before patting her food twice.  

"Now can I be excused Daddy?"

How can you not laugh at that?

One Day Down, Fifteen Years to Go

I am still alive and what's better is that my little preschooler is to.  We survived our first day of homeschool with only one timeout (for Mommy) and 1 slight change in curriculum.  I do believe it was a success despite a few hiccups along the way.  

We hadn't even been together for 10 minutes before I was crying out to God for patience.  After about 10 more minutes of silent pleadings, I made a lame excuse and ran to my room to hide from my eager preschooler.  She stayed downstairs "coloring her numbers."  I hid out in my room and called my girlfriend for a reality check.  (I transcribed the conversation with a tiny bit of embellishment here.  But shhh... don't give me away.)  She thought it was horribly humorous and to be honest, so did I, but it just felt good to laugh about it with a girlfriend rather than pull my hair out completely in front of My Little One.  

I would love to show you all that we did today, but I'm too tired to go downstairs and scan it in.  I was also too lazy to take a proper picture of our first day of school here at The Ballroom Academy.  Maybe we'll stage one later this evening and post it.  You won't care if it's a fraud.  I know in 20 years, I won't care.  

A New Job...

I'm starting a new job tomorrow.  Normally I would be a basket case the night before, complete with butterflies and anxiety, but strangely, I'm not.  I'm actually so excited about it that you might even call it being thrilled.  

Funny but I'm totally unqualified for the position.  I've had no real experience in the field, nor have I had any formal training.  Truth be told, the job pays absolute crap.  I'm not sure where this position will lead me.  All I know is that the responsibly I will be assuming tomorrow is great.  I will be solely responsible to the well being of all that I've been entrusted with.  

Wow!  Sounds daunting.  I should be scared spit-less!  But I'm not.  Not even a little bit.  I'm as prepared for tomorrow as I can be.  I'll have to leave the rest up to God and the innate ability He has given me to succeed at this new position.  I am pretty excited.  

It will most likely be the most laid back, relaxed job I've ever had; at least that's my approach.  I'll kill myself and all who are near me if I let myself get stressed out and anal about things that don't matter.  I need to keep what matters most always in the forefront of my mind.  

Tomorrow I begin homeschooling my 3 year old.  I must be crazy.  Pray for me.

We're Under Siege!

My daughter.
What can I say?
She loves anything little.
She likes to line things up.
She plays in my room (where she is not supposed to).

:::sigh:::

My daughter....


My bedroom window sill...

Her little army...

Standing to attention (please take note of how she has meticulously wrapped them around the corner)....

Bashful, Grumpy, Sleepy, and Doc flanked by Belle's wedding dress and whipped cream with a cherry on top. I think Grumpy is a bit ticked that Bashful won't stop looking at his bum. I know I would be!....

Here's The Handsome Prince introducing Tinkerbell and Mr. Thomas/Tumnus (from Narnia), while Snow White tries to keep Dopey from burning Mr. Thomas. Then there's Cinderella, who borrowed Belle's dress and is hoping Snow White won't say anything to Belle about it.

Nona and Petunia (from VeggieTales' Duke and the Great Pie War) are stuck in the corner with a inebriated-looking Happy and an allergic Sneezy. (Off the the left you'll find Belle's pink dress. Cindy, tried it on, but felt that the yellow one brought out the highlights in her hair better.)
And finally Prince (formerly The Beast) is casually conversing with Duke Duke and Bob about the nice piece of horse flesh to his left. (You'll also be sure to notice another of Belle's dresses discarded by Cindy. This one her wedding gown.)

It Does Not Get Any Better...

Ok, but this just ruins it all...

I Promise I'm Not Dead Yet!

What is it about a vacation that makes you want a vacation just to recover from your vacation?

That's how I have felt this week. I haven't yet had a chance to recover from being gone for two and catch up on life. Now my parents are here. I am thrilled to have them here, but I don't have any food in the house with which to feed them. That's how unprepared I was for their arrival. I just barely got the house cleaned before they pulled into the driveway. I did manage to put clean sheets on their bed and clear some space in my daughter's room for their luggage. It's so laid back when they're here that I'll go grocery shopping later. We had pancakes for breakfast--I had everything on hand for that--even the buttermilk, can you believe it?

I have been very bloggy these past few days since returning from vacay, but unfortunately for you not anything that you can see here just yet. I have a few new blogs coming soon. One is about my love affair with the written word and the other is a collaboration I am doing with a dear friend. That's all I'm going to say about either for now. My goal is to get the first new blog ready by the end of next week. (My parents will provide some much needed blog time for me.) I would imagine the collaboration will be operational very soon as well.

Soooo... I hope you will forgive me for being lax on my posts here. I do love you dearly and miss our posts together. Soon, my dear readers, soon....

Until then...

...go get something to eat!

For the Music Man...

Happy Birthday!

UPDATE: We're Baaaaaa-aaaaack!

Ok, so I know you have all been checking in on me everyday, praying that I will have posted something witty about my travels, dreams, or quirky songs that get stuck in my head.  Well, you will be relieved to know that I am back and will be bringing all of those things to you very soon.  I thought that I would have internet service the whole time I was gone, but I had barely any.  I should have had guest posters.  Now I know for sure for next time.  

I have lots to post about in the days and weeks to come, but for now, I have 54 emails to respond to, 3 books to mail, 8 books to choose, a brand new blog to design, 7 books to review, 104 pictures to clean up in photoshop, 2 toilets to clean, 3 loads of laundry, and 4 filets of tilapia to broil.

Soooo... I best be on my way for now.  

It's good to be home!

UPDATE:  Head on over to my other site... I've been posting all about General Council this afternoon.  I will eventually have it up here as well, in a paired down version.  But if you can't wait another second to find out what I've been up to, this should keep you occupied.  I'm taking a short break from it now to make dinner and get feeling back into my bum.  I will finish with days 5 and 6 later tonight after Natalie and the Music Man are in bed.

I Am Still Here!

Hi!!!

I have ben swimming without a life preserver on!  I've had no internet for 4 days!  :::GASP:::  But now I have some at the hotel in Indy, although, I have to use Scott's computer which leaves me without any of my pictures... so that will have to wait for a few more days.  I haven't had much time to even think about anything, but I have a few minutes now and I just had to fill you all in on what I've been doing here at General Council thus far. (As I type this, my hubby is in the Big Vote meeting.)  

[I'm sorry, but this will have to be sorta quick.]

I am so excited about everything that I don't know where to begin!  What fun!!!  I feel like a kid in a candy store!  

Ok... We got here yesterday afternoon, checked into the hotel, and headed over to register where we met up with Pastor and Linda Romine!  That was fantastic!!!  Service was awesome as was the altar time following.  We ate a late supper with the Romines.  We had such fun catching up and reminiscing about the good 'ol days.  

This morning Scott and I had breakfast together alone (can you believe it!) at au bon pain... Mmmm... We then met up with Pastor Alan and walked over to the Convention Center.  We walked around the exhibits for a while and I got to see friends from college that I haven't seen in years!  It was awesome!!!  (That's the part when I felt like a kid in the candy store!  Pictures to come... I promise... They're all on my phone...)  Then we met Pastor and Linda again and the guys all went into their business meeting.  

Linda and I walked the exhibits more.  She's my kindred sister with a missions calling on her life as well, so we got all giddy over the amazingly elaborate mission displays.  It was unbelievable.  We got our picture taken in a rickshaw---SO COOL!!  Tomorrow morning we're going to get henna tattoos and go on this thing called a Eurasian Experience.  They have a Eurasian village set up where you can taste foods from the area and all sorts of things... I'm so excited!!!  We visited the NCU booth!!!  I saw my old friend Jon and finally met his beautiful wife, Elissa. (I found out that she has finally broken him of the disgusting habit of blowing his nose in his shirts.  Thank you Jesus!)  We visited a whole bunch more booths that I want to mention by name and give links too, but Scott has my bag with all my info at his meeting, so it will have to wait till later.

Around noon, we met our guys again for lunch at Champps.  My friend Josh joined us too.  It was so great to see him again.  We went to high school together and it was because of him that my husband and I met.  (Thanks Josh!)  His wife is one of my very dearest and best friends in all the world.  (Oh, girlfriend!  I am missing you soooo very much right now!!!  I wish you were here!!!)  The guys had to go back into meeting for the Big Vote, so Linda and I did what we do best... We went shopping!  Now I am back here typing to you...

I can not tell you what a fantastic time I have been having.  I SOOOO needed this break and vacation!!!  I love my life, my family, and my friends, but I needed a change of scenery badly!  I feel like I am in the middle of a huge deep breath!!!  I have laughed, cried, made a fool of myself, laughed some more, cried some more, hugged so much, been hugged so much, smiled, talked, been giddy, cried again and laughed even more...  And I get to do it all again tomorrow!!!  Did I already say I am having so much fun!

So until later... that's what I've been up to!

  

A Diary of General Council 2007: Day One

We are off! We left this morning around 730 and are headed to Dayton, OH. PScott's parents live there and it is the first stop on our 2 week Midwest tour. Thank you Jesus for a van with a DVD system!

Tomorrow we meet up with Pastor Alan. He get to experience Dayton for the first time in his life. We'll take him on the Scott Ball History Tour and to the Air Force Museum. I think he is going to try Skyline Chili. He may not get to go to General Council depending on what the chili does to him. Please be praying.

Is This Really Any Better...

It's 521AM and anyone who knows me even a little bit has now fallen off their chairs in shock that I am awake and actually functioning at this house.  And I am completely functioning.  I just woke up with this in my head.  YIKES!!  I think it's worse than the other day, but it did get me right out of bed this dark morning.  

We'll be leaving in an hour and a half for 2 weeks of vacation.  (Here comes the Music Man.  Oh dear!  He's wondering what I did with his wife.)  We're going to General Council in Indianapolis this week and Dayton next week.  I thought about having a few guest posters throughout the weeks that I'm gone, but decided that since I'm not on a real vacay I can still do it myself.  I have lots of pictures from this summer that have never been blogged about and some other things like that, so I have enough to keep posting.  

But for now, I think I'll enjoy a cup of coffee... Mmmm... and watch the sun rise over my deck.  In honor of my early start today, I decided to highlight one of my favorite gadgets that I use almost daily.  It's my French press.  What is a French press, you say?  Well it's that thing the left of course...

I traded in our little 4-cup coffee maker a couple months back for this little guy because I got tired of seeing the ugly Krups on my counter.  I thought that this looked much cuter.  Since I'm the only one that drinks coffee here in the mornings this makes the perfect amount.  And when we have company, it's fun to whip it out and make coffee right at the table.  

This particular model is $89.95, but you can get them as inexpensive as $24.95.

I must go now... I do have a two weeks vacation to go to after all.  I'll keep you posted throught the weeks.  (No pun intended!)  Type to you soon.

  

Does the sun rise this early?  I didn't think even Jesus woke up this early.

The Best Part of Waking up

I woke up with this in my head...

Is that really the best part of waking up?

Would you believe...

Last night, as I was snuggling with the Music Man and thoroughly enjoying the way the soft hair on his chest felt on my face, (mmmm... it is my favorite place to lay my head), I had a brilliant idea for what to post today.  I don't usually plan these posts ahead of time.  I just sit down and type whatever babble come into my head, but last night was a beautiful idea.  It needed a tad bit of prep and unfortunately I fell asleep.  Hello!  How could I not!?  Snuggled in with my man, listening to his heartbeat, and getting my back tickled by my buff man... you do the same with your husband and try to stay awake to think about your blog.  I bet you couldn't do it either!

Anyway... since my fantastic idea needed a bit of prep last night and it didn't happen, you'll have to settle for this....

(But you can be sure that I will someday make good on that idea.)

I shared with you about this new-to-me website, paperbackswap.com, on Website Wednesday.  I joined earlier this week and posted my required 9 books.  Immediately one of those was requested.  Then yesterday afternoon I went to my husband's office and plundered our library there.  It's mostly our books from college.  (Which strangely enough, I found that for the most part they were in remarkable condition.  Some looked as though they had never even been opened.  Wow!  I had forgotten how meticulous I was with my books as I read every last page of each of them.)  I brought them home and posted every last one.  I think it was 18 in total.  (Hey! this is just the beginning.)  I was convinced that no one would ever want these books, but the more books I post the better chance I have at earning credits, so the more the merrier.  

Well, what do you know... I checked my email this morning to find that five, yes I said FIVE of those college books I posted had been requested!  Can you even believe it!?  I will have five more credits in which to get five more books to love.  

What fun this it!!!  You must try it!!!  Go sign up right now!  Now!  I said NOW!