I slept in today...a lot like till 9:45 & folks that just doesn't happen.
I'm not going to excuse it away, either. I rarely sleep late-I sure am not going to apologize for it. :)
Today I have errands to do and my truck needs cleaned out desparately. I also have laundry and packing to do.
This time tomorrow I'll be heading to South Carolina for the weekend.
I hope yall have a good one.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Midnight Evaluations
I read an article once about looking back over your day and making judgments at midnight.
It basically said, you shouldn't.
Heh!
I don't know if I've mentioned it here, but a few weeks back my mom got one of those 4 ft above ground pools for the grandkids.
Set up in 15 mins
[waits for laughter to stop]
You should know that my parents live on an incline...
that makes for an unlevel pool.
You should also know it makes for about 3 weeks worth of work
on getting it set up
It has included two family gatherings with men folks using sand and math to level pool...
filling it up
it being oval instead of round and not filling correctly...
so then
we (well, that would be my Dad) spends about $500 on lumber
and at yet another family gathering
the menfolk build a platform
lots of time
sweat
leveling
sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet
level
pool
fill that baby up
er
um
uh
it was all good
till
it wasn't
and the weight of the water
and a few of the braced 2x4's didn't agree
and the 2x4's broke
thus buckling the plywood platform
and making it jut up into the bottom of the pool
thus
making it have to be drained
so that a hole isn't punched into the liner
so
here we are
three weeks later
three attempts later
and no pool
but a lot of disappointment
My life, today, at this midnight evaluation, feels a lot like that pool (to use it as a metaphor).
And that sounds way dramatic-huh?
But if I had to be honest.
That's what I'd tell you.
I feel like I've done things.
I've worked on things.
I've tried.
and I've failed.
and here I am
all this time later
all these tries later
and still no pool
but a good bit of disaappointment.
(again, dramatic, no?)
I've never been where I am in my life before...
and it's not where I ever imagined I would be...
and yet here I am
trying to get it level
again
It basically said, you shouldn't.
Heh!
I don't know if I've mentioned it here, but a few weeks back my mom got one of those 4 ft above ground pools for the grandkids.
Set up in 15 mins
[waits for laughter to stop]
You should know that my parents live on an incline...
that makes for an unlevel pool.
You should also know it makes for about 3 weeks worth of work
on getting it set up
It has included two family gatherings with men folks using sand and math to level pool...
filling it up
it being oval instead of round and not filling correctly...
so then
we (well, that would be my Dad) spends about $500 on lumber
and at yet another family gathering
the menfolk build a platform
lots of time
sweat
leveling
sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet
level
pool
fill that baby up
er
um
uh
it was all good
till
it wasn't
and the weight of the water
and a few of the braced 2x4's didn't agree
and the 2x4's broke
thus buckling the plywood platform
and making it jut up into the bottom of the pool
thus
making it have to be drained
so that a hole isn't punched into the liner
so
here we are
three weeks later
three attempts later
and no pool
but a lot of disappointment
My life, today, at this midnight evaluation, feels a lot like that pool (to use it as a metaphor).
And that sounds way dramatic-huh?
But if I had to be honest.
That's what I'd tell you.
I feel like I've done things.
I've worked on things.
I've tried.
and I've failed.
and here I am
all this time later
all these tries later
and still no pool
but a good bit of disaappointment.
(again, dramatic, no?)
I've never been where I am in my life before...
and it's not where I ever imagined I would be...
and yet here I am
trying to get it level
again
Just breath...
That has become my motto as of late...
just breath...
questions surround me...
ideas...
thoughts...
contridictions in thoughts...
opinions...
peoples words...
it all swirls and cycles and my brain hurts.
I can rest in knowing God knows. I can rest in knowing that I can trust that.
I can also admit my human-ness, and how easily I get swept into it all.
Some days are hard.
Those days I remind myself....
just breath.
just breath...
questions surround me...
ideas...
thoughts...
contridictions in thoughts...
opinions...
peoples words...
it all swirls and cycles and my brain hurts.
I can rest in knowing God knows. I can rest in knowing that I can trust that.
I can also admit my human-ness, and how easily I get swept into it all.
Some days are hard.
Those days I remind myself....
just breath.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Simple Summer
For Today...
Outside my window... I see the sun shining and butterflies flitting around the butterfly bush
I am thinking... of what needs to get done today and this week--making mental list...
From the learning rooms... school is done we will be working on some stuff & I am excited about getting the basement ready for school this fall.
I am thankful for... the little things, for family and for friends
From the kitchen...coffee so far this morning...
I am wearing... cozy clothes-black bottoms with tiny pink polka dots & a huge black tee.
I am reading... The Spirit of Sweetgrass, Psalms, Proverbs
I am hoping... to enjoy this summer like never before...
I am creating... a star afghan
I am praying... for grace, moment by moment
Around the house... chatter from AE...background noise provided by History channel, boys in the other room doing their puter time for the day.
One of my favorite things... summer days full of summerness. :)
A few plans for the rest of the week... Therapy today for Elijah...going to Bremen this afternoon to get the cousins for ''cousins camp'' this week...church on Wednesday...cleaning up the truck...packing...leaving Friday to take the kiddos to see their Dad in Charleston for the weekend...yay, for the ocean....yay for roadtrips.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
hee, my birthday weekend shirt...
Outside my window... I see the sun shining and butterflies flitting around the butterfly bush
I am thinking... of what needs to get done today and this week--making mental list...
From the learning rooms... school is done we will be working on some stuff & I am excited about getting the basement ready for school this fall.
I am thankful for... the little things, for family and for friends
From the kitchen...coffee so far this morning...
I am wearing... cozy clothes-black bottoms with tiny pink polka dots & a huge black tee.
I am reading... The Spirit of Sweetgrass, Psalms, Proverbs
I am hoping... to enjoy this summer like never before...
I am creating... a star afghan
I am praying... for grace, moment by moment
Around the house... chatter from AE...background noise provided by History channel, boys in the other room doing their puter time for the day.
One of my favorite things... summer days full of summerness. :)
A few plans for the rest of the week... Therapy today for Elijah...going to Bremen this afternoon to get the cousins for ''cousins camp'' this week...church on Wednesday...cleaning up the truck...packing...leaving Friday to take the kiddos to see their Dad in Charleston for the weekend...yay, for the ocean....yay for roadtrips.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
hee, my birthday weekend shirt...
Summer 09--alive & active
It seems I am a planner.
There is nothing I love better than a little organization of ideas, a clean crisp notebook and handwritten list. :)
I love, love, love a good plan.
and
most every summer I have one.
I have these grand ideas-plans-goals.
and
they end up
starting with gusto and fizzling about midstream
but
they were well laid plans
and there is always next summer, right?
Well, enter Summer 09.
I have been thinking on our plan.
I had formulated one, even.
However
we are veering from the plan.
[gasp]
[sputter]
[choke]
...
Oh there is still an idea...
a guide in mind
but there is no
outline and chart for progress
just an idea
and the idea is this...
ALIVE AND ACTIVE
from June 8-Sept 8
my motto
will be
alive and active
(now granted our summer won't run that long--honestly we'll start school mid August)
This summer I want to:
-lay out in the sun, a lot [with sunscreen, hee, but the sun makes me happy and makes me feel alive...so it totally fits the criteria for summer 09 checklist!]
-read a lot [we have some summer read alouds. I want to read some fluff. I want to read some challenging and thought provoking stuff. I'm going to saturate myself in Psalms & Proverbs. I'm reading To Kill A Mockingbird with my niece for her 9th grade honors English summer reading.
-lose 30 pounds. [find my collarbones, lose my baby belly-since my baby will be 4 (FOUR!) in July. LOL] (and well, Cheri will never be skinny-heh, it's one of those impossibilities and so not that goal...I'm 36, I've birthed and fed 4 kiddos--I am not, so, so, so not ever going to be hottt. LOL--and I'm ok with that, truly. But I can be better. We're aiming for better. :) [toning up the arms...lunges for the butt...pilates for lean muscle...hee, cheri and lean...um, yeah--ok....but true, I can work with what I have and rearrange it a bit--that's the goal. :) ]
-walk a lot (every.stinking.day.)
-water, drinking a whole, heckuva lot water.
-journalling (paper/pen/writing)
-quilt (whispers this...I want to make a quilt...my church has a weekly quilting circle...I can really learn this)
-cleaning out the basement (we are totally setting up a school room down there...it will be ideal but it will be a project that will be a summer long deal SO EXCITED)
-get school together. I will be schooling all four kiddos in August. I will be bulding most of the curriculum.
-live intentionally & I know this is so one of those ''sayings''...and I know I have said it myself. But I really, truly want to LIVE this summer. To be alive and active. To be with my kids, to participate in the moment to moment. To spend lazy days reading and watching old movies and laughing and catching lightening bugs. Just living. I am far too worried most of the time about the next thing or busy doing what has to be done--this is a weakness of mine...and one I want to address and work on this summer.
I want to look back at this list in September and smile. I want to read it with eyes that are clearer because more time has been spent in the fresh air and sunshine. I want the fingers that type the Sept update to be a summer bronze. I want more words in my vocabulary from books that expanded my thinking. I want a heart that loves Jesus more, because of time spent in His Word. I want a mind that is refreshed and ready for a new school year. I want a body that is stronger in might and in spirit (and a size 10 wouldn't hurt my feelings. Hee!) I want a life that is lived in the moment, creating opportunities to love and show the love of God to others. I want to look back at the summer of 09 and know that while it was one with lots of changes and challenges and sometimes it was hard to breath--that I made it and that I am stronger. I am better. I am more, than I was--I want to surprise myself.
Welcome, summer.
There is nothing I love better than a little organization of ideas, a clean crisp notebook and handwritten list. :)
I love, love, love a good plan.
and
most every summer I have one.
I have these grand ideas-plans-goals.
and
they end up
starting with gusto and fizzling about midstream
but
they were well laid plans
and there is always next summer, right?
Well, enter Summer 09.
I have been thinking on our plan.
I had formulated one, even.
However
we are veering from the plan.
[gasp]
[sputter]
[choke]
...
Oh there is still an idea...
a guide in mind
but there is no
outline and chart for progress
just an idea
and the idea is this...
ALIVE AND ACTIVE
from June 8-Sept 8
my motto
will be
alive and active
(now granted our summer won't run that long--honestly we'll start school mid August)
This summer I want to:
-lay out in the sun, a lot [with sunscreen, hee, but the sun makes me happy and makes me feel alive...so it totally fits the criteria for summer 09 checklist!]
-read a lot [we have some summer read alouds. I want to read some fluff. I want to read some challenging and thought provoking stuff. I'm going to saturate myself in Psalms & Proverbs. I'm reading To Kill A Mockingbird with my niece for her 9th grade honors English summer reading.
-lose 30 pounds. [find my collarbones, lose my baby belly-since my baby will be 4 (FOUR!) in July. LOL] (and well, Cheri will never be skinny-heh, it's one of those impossibilities and so not that goal...I'm 36, I've birthed and fed 4 kiddos--I am not, so, so, so not ever going to be hottt. LOL--and I'm ok with that, truly. But I can be better. We're aiming for better. :) [toning up the arms...lunges for the butt...pilates for lean muscle...hee, cheri and lean...um, yeah--ok....but true, I can work with what I have and rearrange it a bit--that's the goal. :) ]
-walk a lot (every.stinking.day.)
-water, drinking a whole, heckuva lot water.
-journalling (paper/pen/writing)
-quilt (whispers this...I want to make a quilt...my church has a weekly quilting circle...I can really learn this)
-cleaning out the basement (we are totally setting up a school room down there...it will be ideal but it will be a project that will be a summer long deal SO EXCITED)
-get school together. I will be schooling all four kiddos in August. I will be bulding most of the curriculum.
-live intentionally & I know this is so one of those ''sayings''...and I know I have said it myself. But I really, truly want to LIVE this summer. To be alive and active. To be with my kids, to participate in the moment to moment. To spend lazy days reading and watching old movies and laughing and catching lightening bugs. Just living. I am far too worried most of the time about the next thing or busy doing what has to be done--this is a weakness of mine...and one I want to address and work on this summer.
I want to look back at this list in September and smile. I want to read it with eyes that are clearer because more time has been spent in the fresh air and sunshine. I want the fingers that type the Sept update to be a summer bronze. I want more words in my vocabulary from books that expanded my thinking. I want a heart that loves Jesus more, because of time spent in His Word. I want a mind that is refreshed and ready for a new school year. I want a body that is stronger in might and in spirit (and a size 10 wouldn't hurt my feelings. Hee!) I want a life that is lived in the moment, creating opportunities to love and show the love of God to others. I want to look back at the summer of 09 and know that while it was one with lots of changes and challenges and sometimes it was hard to breath--that I made it and that I am stronger. I am better. I am more, than I was--I want to surprise myself.
Welcome, summer.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
birthday bullets
*road trips to pick up cousins
*ice cream celebrating last days of school
*loud fun music & lots of laughing
*swimming in odd shaped pools
*fish frys with people that make you a better person
*14 yr old boys trying to impress pretty 14 yr old girls (hee!)
*fun conversations with random people in stores--because clearly it's my mission to talk to everyone I encounter :D
*hanging out with family
*building decks to level the pool so it won't be odd shaped
*making 40-11 trips to Lowes for 2x4 (both 8 and 10 feet long-just depending on which trip)
*trips to BJ's, buying bday cakes, having my name written REALLY BIG and my brothers (who's bday is June 20th...um, not so big! HEE!)
*making my Aunt Sharon put me as her wallpaper on her phone (hee!)
*sparklers and poppers
*hugging Jeremy (my cousin, who is like a brother)
*black raspberry vanilla from bath and body works
*sensual amber from bath and body works
*java chip fraps from Starbucks
*jelly cream pies by little debbie ...scoff if you will...Mrs. Cathy gave me two boxes for my bday--she is my favorite.person.ever.
*preebee tiara that I wore all.stinking.day.
*birthday cash
*cards
*lots of cards
*Facebook--literally my page runneth over with love from my friends...it truly made me cry
*ice cream socials
*my little church singing happy birthday to me
*my little girl singing happy birthday to me
*my boys tolerating their momma's crazy (hee!)
*preebee toes
*chocolate cake with chocolate fudge butter cream frosting
*my favorite movie that makes me happy-every.time.
*memories
the good ones, even if they are hard ones, being able to remember--to feel, to know, to relive that moment, anytime I want-is a gift I can open anytime I need it to be real again.
It was a very, very, very, very, very good day.
Thirty-six, you are looking pretty promising.
And that makes me happier than you can imagine.
*ice cream celebrating last days of school
*loud fun music & lots of laughing
*swimming in odd shaped pools
*fish frys with people that make you a better person
*14 yr old boys trying to impress pretty 14 yr old girls (hee!)
*fun conversations with random people in stores--because clearly it's my mission to talk to everyone I encounter :D
*hanging out with family
*building decks to level the pool so it won't be odd shaped
*making 40-11 trips to Lowes for 2x4 (both 8 and 10 feet long-just depending on which trip)
*trips to BJ's, buying bday cakes, having my name written REALLY BIG and my brothers (who's bday is June 20th...um, not so big! HEE!)
*making my Aunt Sharon put me as her wallpaper on her phone (hee!)
*sparklers and poppers
*hugging Jeremy (my cousin, who is like a brother)
*black raspberry vanilla from bath and body works
*sensual amber from bath and body works
*java chip fraps from Starbucks
*jelly cream pies by little debbie ...scoff if you will...Mrs. Cathy gave me two boxes for my bday--she is my favorite.person.ever.
*preebee tiara that I wore all.stinking.day.
*birthday cash
*cards
*lots of cards
*Facebook--literally my page runneth over with love from my friends...it truly made me cry
*ice cream socials
*my little church singing happy birthday to me
*my little girl singing happy birthday to me
*my boys tolerating their momma's crazy (hee!)
*preebee toes
*chocolate cake with chocolate fudge butter cream frosting
*my favorite movie that makes me happy-every.time.
*memories
the good ones, even if they are hard ones, being able to remember--to feel, to know, to relive that moment, anytime I want-is a gift I can open anytime I need it to be real again.
It was a very, very, very, very, very good day.
Thirty-six, you are looking pretty promising.
And that makes me happier than you can imagine.
Birthday Queen
Today I am 36.
Thirty-six.
The last few years have not been the best of birthdays, however, this year has more than made up for them.
It has been fabulous.
I am blessed.
I love my birthday.
Thirty-six.
The last few years have not been the best of birthdays, however, this year has more than made up for them.
It has been fabulous.
I am blessed.
I love my birthday.
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