I'm officially Mr. Magoo

I went to get my eyes checked last Friday. This is something I try to do on a routine basis as part of my protest against the side effects of diabetes. I knew I needed new reading glasses. Not because mine weren't strong enough anymore, but because someone sat something on top of mine and they were no longer the proper shape to stay on a human face. I finished my exam and I asked what seemed to be an innocent question:"Are contacts an option?" I hate glasses. I hate cleaning them and keeping up with them and obviously I'm terrible about leaving them laying around where things can be set on top of them. What I wasn't prepared for was her response: "You'd need bifocal contacts since you don't need anything for distance." No way I'm even having the rest of that conversation. I am waaaaaay too young for that. So off I go to choose new frames. I have to go to the kids' section because my face is so skinny.

Fast forward to Wednesday--I go to pick up my glasses. The worker asks me if "she" is with me, referring to the mystery child whom the glasses are for. I sheepishly inform her they are for me. Then I try them on. Everything looks great right in front of my face. Then I glanced over at Katie across the room. She's blurry. I have to take off the glasses to see her clearly! Visions of an eyeglass chain around my neck and my arms stretched out in front of me began to flood my brain. I think I'm going to go have a mid-life crisis now and there's going to be shopping involved.

Pop! goes the Pilates

I'm really trying to exercise everyday. My blood sugar counts have been terrible lately. My last A1c was 7.6. If you know what an A1c is, you know that's bad. If you don't know what it is and are dying of curiosity, I will give you the universal answer to all quandaries in life: Google it. I don't mind explaining it; I just don't have time at the moment since I have to be at Academy when their doors open at 9 to buy a pair of track shoes and have them to the school before Zac leaves for a track meet at 10. We'll have diabetes education another day.

Anyway, yesterday I'm laying on the floor, doing Pilates. Nathan decides to join me. We're doing some side leg lifts, when he says, "AWWWWWW, I just popped my butt knuckle." That's it, I'm done. I cannot continue to exercise when I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe nor can I get up off the floor. (Further questioning revealed that the "butt knuckle" is in fact the hip socket.)

Bring the rain

A few months ago I was in my van, singing along with the radio as I always do--probably the one thing my children wish I wouldn't do when we're in the car--when I started actually listening to the words I was singing.

Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

The words grabbed my attention and I asked myself if I could honestly say those words and mean them. Was I really willing to go through an uncomfortable situation just to bring God glory? Well, wouldn't you know it. The test came just a couple of weeks later. Some of you are aware of the situation I am going through with my brother and have been praying for me. I won't get into a lot of details. Just know that he has cut off all communication with me and is refusing to send me the inheritance from my dad that is legally mine.

I have cried as many, if not more, tears over this situation than I have over losing my dad. A crier I am not, so this is huge for me. After a few days of wallowing in my pity party, I could almost hear God speak to me, telling me to quit acting like I'm defeated. He's on my side and in control. I still have to remind myself of this often, but I have been trusting him and am confident that He will work all of this for my good because that's what He promised to do.

The most recent development is I have mailed Jeff a letter, requesting he send me an amount that equals about 1/4 of the inheritance, more than fair to him. He probably received it yesterday. But, the awesome thing is, while I have been trusting God to take care of the situation, he has blessed me beyond measure just in the last few days. We received an escrow check from our house in Arlington. We also found out they want to drill for natural gas in our neighborhood in Arlington so we'll be making a trip to sign lease papers and get a check in a couple of weeks. We have been needing a new washing machine for a while, and yesterday, totally unexpected, someone purchased one for me! They wish to remain anonymous so I can't go into much more detail, but I've never been more excited about doing laundry!

I am beginning to wonder if this is how God is going to take care of me, all these unexpected blessings. But each and every one is like a hug from my Heavenly Father, letting me know He cares for me and will always be my champion. So would I trade a boring life and a so-so relationship with Him for a challenging life and the chance to know Him more intimately? Without hesitation....Bring the rain.

The dangler

Nathan's loose tooth adventures continue. He's lost 4 in the last few weeks. He has an interesting technique of pulling them though--he doesn't. He waits until they fall out. I've always been a proponent of letting my kids be in charge of pulling their own teeth when they're ready or I'll do it if I'm asked. Nathan likes to wait until they fall out while he's eating which is rather disturbing to me. We'll be in the middle of a meal, he'll scream, then this tooth comes flying out of his mouth, landing on the table in all of it's bloody glory. The last one though, about drove us all crazy. Look closely at this picture. You see the tooth on the top left? Your left, not his.

It dangled there, hanging loose for at least 3 weeks. I tried everything to provoke him to pull it out. I offered money, special privileges. One night we were eating at Fish Daddy's. We had a shrimp salsa appetizer and Nathan wanted the last shrimp. I told him he could have it if he would pull that tooth when we got home. He ate the shrimp. He did not pull the tooth. He did ask me to by some apples so it would come out. Even his choir teacher at church told him the tooth was stressing her out. I came home from work last week to find his smile like this...

I guess the dangle had become too much for Kevin. He had pulled it for him. Funny thing, it was soooo loose that Nathan didn't even know it had come out. Kevin tricked him into thinking he needed to try again, but it was already out! Maybe if we had decided to lie to our kids about the tooth fairy, we wouldn't have this problem.

Feeling Blue?

Zac and I saw the Blue man group for the first time last night. My boss bought tickets for everyone and their spouse. My spouse was preaching this morning and turned down the chance for a date with me which may be the first time that has ever happened. I chose Zac to go in his place. In my mind, he had the most potential of appreciating the $40 ticket.

To say that it was different would be an understatement. I really didn't know what to expect. My previous exposure to the little blue men involved a few clips from You tube and PBS. I'm not really sure I can think of words to describe it; it was so far beyond anything I've ever experienced before. There is nothing in my brain to connect it to. Zac, as expected, thought it was awesome and would go again tomorrow if given the opportunity. What about you? Have you seen this strange concert phenomenon? How would you describe it? Here's your chance to be a published author on the world wide web......in my comments section!

Just Weird

I don't believe in coincidences. I believe things happen for a purpose and I call them Godinces because He is in control of all things. But, occasionally things happen that are just weird and irrelevant to the big scheme of things, so probably not God-orchestrated. For example, Kevin spent an entire day a couple of weeks ago getting OK plates for our cars and his OK driver's license. (My license doesn't expire until 2011 so I'm not real motivated to go through the headache of transferring my license just yet.) The plates for Kevin's car have Zac's birthday on them and my plates have my birthday on them. What are the chances of that happening? Out of all the license plates available, we were given two that had numbers that have meaning. That's just weird.

A day at the lake with Jack and Ruthie

(Clarification: we are not still at the lake; we've been back home for over a week now. I just haven't had much 'slackinoff' time to get these pictures on here.)


Jack and Ruthie love being at the lakehouse with their owners, Nate and Kate. Nathan says it's the best vacation ever, even though he's been to Disney World twice. It must be whatever is freshest on his mind is the best. Maybe it's because we celebrated his birthday while we were there. He did share his new transformer race track with Jack and Ruthie and let them race.

The horse swings on the deck were a big hit. Even Zac played on them (and fell off, but I'm not supposed to tell you that).

What could be better than Ms. Pac Man, no quarters required? This is the only video game I'll ever beat my kids at and I am currently the high score title holder.

Jack's training to be a pool shark.

Sweet dreams Jack!