Monthly Archives: May 2010

My Google Reader has a ridiculous number of unread posts, my email inbox is full to overflowing, and my To Do lists are embedded with other To Do lists.

But we’re living life around here.

Yes, I know that the pictures are ridiculously big, but I didn’t come to this knowledge until after I’d uploaded all eleventy hundred of them. I just don’t have the physical or emotional stamina (or knowledge of why they are so ridiculously big in the first place or how to fix them) to do anything about it.

We had fun at Field Day….

We took in an Astros game:

We realized some of us are as white as our socks as we acted lazy around the pool….

We contemplated space…..

…as we landed the space shuttle….

…and even touched the moon…..

We took time to stop and smell the roses….

We went back in time and had a little lunch while we were there….

We visited the home of the best ice cream in the world (that you can buy in a store, anyway) and had a bite or twenty while we were there…..

We ate (but didn’t sleep) with the fishes….

….and decided not to ever inject our lips with anything to make them look bigger….

We beat each other up….on the Wii….

We’re having a good time, even if we aren’t getting all the things on our To Do lists accomplished.

What have you been doing?

A few of you asked me questions related to the last few posts.

No, I did not have a cupcake. It’s amazing how much makeup you can squeeze from a tube when you are A, cheap and B, trying not to eat a cupcake.

Yes, I found my chocolate stash. Although judging from the feeding frenzy that ensued upon its discovery, it would probably have been safer for all involved, including the top button on my jeans, if it had stayed hidden.

Yes, I did say that we’re moving….again. Some families go to Disney World for summer vacation, mine moves. This time we’re moving within a day’s driving distance from my mom which is nice. Usually we move far enough away that the people don’t talk like we do. We’ll still be living in the  Land of Y’all and Bless Your Heart.  We are now officially in the “less than a month away” zone of the moving process. This is the zone where I make long, detailed lists…and then forget where I put them. But I am making progress in the quest to get rid of some of our stuff. I’ve found some good decluttering advice on several blogs, like one called Organizing Your Way.  Cleaning out is a process, for sure.

But at least I found my chocolate.

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I have a couple of book reviews that I need to post for you in the next few days. I’ve thought about creating a separate reviews blog. I’ve also thought about moving all my MGO (the posts I write about how I feel about my dad living in Heaven and not here) posts to a separate blog. I have a lot more to say about where I am in that process than I’ve written lately. I know some of you relate to that journey and others of you would probably  prefer to hear less about it.  On the other hand, I can’t even get to the bottom of my email pile so the idea of starting two new blogs is probably not evidence of my firm grip on reality at this point in my life. We’ll see.

In other news, my sweet friend Candace welcomed a new member into her family. Welcome to the world, Asher Adam Chaney! You are such a blessed baby boy and loved so very much! You need to click on that link if only to see one  of the most precious big sister pictures I’ve ever seen! Congratulations, Chaney Family!!

You know you’re getting old when you hide your chocolate stash from your kids…..

…and then spend all morning trying to remember where you hid it.

If anyone needs me I’ll be turning my kitchen upside down looking for my chocolate…and researching retirement home options.

I have too much stuff.

I think a more accurate way to state the above sentence would be to say that too much stuff has me.

We move a lot so I have far more opportunities than I’d like to see all of my earthly possessions packed, boxed, and carted out in front of me. Then I have to unpack and find new homes for everything.

I spend way more of my time than I would like dealing with the clutter that comes from having way too much stuff.

Lately I’ve thought a lot about the excess that I have that could actually be blessing others who need my stuff more than I do.

Since we have another move in just a few weeks, I’m smack dab in the middle of looking at all this stuff we own and trying to decide what I really need to keep. I probably need much less than is actually leaving this house in boxes, and garbage bags, and brown paper grocery sacks. This article has helped me to let go of several items that I don’t need to keep anymore, but I still look around and see a lot of stuff.

Stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff. I’m sick of it.

How about you? Do you have a hard time getting rid of things or is it easy for you to live an uncluttered life? What’s your best “uncluttering” tip? Also, do you have any ideas that would help me teach my kids to let go of some of their stuff?

He’s a cool smooth-talker with a smile that can melt ice cubes.

And he wants to marry my daughter.

He popped the question a couple of weeks ago and she still hasn’t given him an answer.

His mom told him to be patient and give her time to think about it.

After all, she’s only six.

His mom was curious about what was going on in that six-year-old little head of his so she asked him why he chose my daughter. She thought he would tell her it was because my girl is sweet and beautiful. Or maybe because she drew a special picture just for him that recalled specific details like his precious brown curls and his #8 jersey. But he didn’t mention any of those reasons. Instead, he said something that made my heart skip a beat.

Why does this little boy love my daughter?

“Because she trusts my word.”

Grown-up little boys aren’t very different, are they? Doesn’t every man want to find a woman who will trust his word? I couldn’t help but wonder if my man always feels trusted by me.

His mom and I aren’t pushing a love connection between these two. We don’t want them to worry about boyfriends and girlfriends and marrying for a long, long time. They’ll only have a few years to be kids. We want them to enjoy every minute of it.

I don’t think we have to be too concerned. On the way home from school, my daughter told me that sometimes he taps her on the shoulder and won’t stop until she looks at him.

“And then he just smiles. As soon as I turn away from him, he starts tapping me again!”

“Maybe he’s just trying to get your attention.”

“For what?! So I can see him smile? I know he’s happy. He doesn’t have to keep smiling at me!”

Ah, young love. It truly is a many splendored thing.

I am almost out of makeup.

The makeup I use comes from a store in town that is conveniently located in a cute little shopping village.

The store in the cute little shopping village is conveniently located by a gourmet cupcake shop.

Because I want to be healthy, I am trying to make wise food choices.

This probably does not fit into the category of “wise food choices:”

A strong, wise girl would be able to go into the makeup store, make her purchase and leave without buying a cupcake.

I’m not sure that I am a strong, wise girl this week.

Did I mention that the gourmet cupcake shop has cakeballs?

I may be sporting the natural look for a few days…..Either that or an icing lipstick. It’s just too soon to tell.

(P.S. Local friends, you’ve been to Buttercups, right? If you see me in there in the next couple of days, could you pretend like you didn’t?)

My mom talked to our friend Suzonne just a little while ago. Her husband Mike, who had the same cancer that my dad did, moved to Heaven early this morning. He doesn’t have cancer anymore.

I like to think that my dad met him at the gates.  And helped to get Mike’s party started.

As ugly as cancer as, I’m thankful for the beautiful friendship that was forged from the common fires of its ugly presence in those two great men’s lives. We are better for having known Mike Callen.

Please pray for Suzonne, Mike and Suzonne’s son John Michael, and the rest of Mike’s family and friends. Their toughest days are still ahead.

“Sometimes in the middle of the darkest storms God lights up the sky to remind us that what is true right now will not be true forever.” (Sheila Walsh) I’m praying for God’s light in the midst of this storm for Suzonne and John Michael.