Mommy Dearest

all the buzz about pregnancy on Twitter today really inspired me to blog about the horrible mothers I encountered today. Well, or at least the loudest 2.

We were poking around at Michael's when all of a sudden the entire store (literally. pin drop.) turned to stare as a woman ripped into her pre-schooler at the check out line. She was SCREAMING. "If you don't get over here right now I'm gonna spank your ass right here in front of everyone!" That's right. In addition to screaming at her child in public, she also cussed at the poor kid. Some therapist is gonna make a killing on him when he gets older...

Then we walked next door to Home Goods (OMG I died.) Apparently that crazy lady from Michael's has a sister. I went to the restroom and I was barely able to keep from bursting into laughter at the way this woman was going off on her daughter in the handicapped stall! She was borderline yelling, "Stop crying! They aren't tight! I had to put them in your hair because it looked A MESS! [sidebar, who effing says that?] Now quit it! Quit crying or I'll give you something to cry about! [oh yes! a CLASSIC!!!!] I don't care. I don't care what you want. You're 4. You don't have an opinion. I tell you things. No, I really don't care because it's not always about you!!!" The little girl was crying the entire time and whimpering things. Then they head over to the sink and all of a sudden they're laughing and fun. Maybe it was just the toilet, who knows? I walked past them in an aisle and she goes, "Stop whining. You sound like such a titty baby," to which the little girl replied, "I'm not a titty baby!!"

Now, I'm not saying I will be the most perfect mother. I'm not saying I have the patience of a saint. I'm just saying that there are just some moments that you really can avoid. At least the second awesome mom took her kid to the bathroom to go off on her.

Happy Monday!

man training

Every good man has to know how to hold a woman's purse and be patient while she tries things on at stores. We're training Isaac early. We brought him along to the Bridal Salon yesterday while we looked for bridesmaid dresses. He was sooo good and, as per usual, ridiculously cute, all while keeping guard of my purse!

humility and perspective

So, I haven't had the greatest of weeks, but it wasn't things I really wanted to blog about. I've never wanted to stay in Katy, and lately I'm kind of getting the itch to get out of here again. I miss my friends, especially the beacon of awesome. My Little Jen Jen that Could and I have been talking a lot lately about being lonely and not really having any friends where you live. As much as I miss her and Liz up in Dallas, I know Austin is where most of my friends are. Beacon of Awesome and all that. I think it was the converesation with Denver where he was mentioning a move back there that really started the yearning in my heart.

No, I'm not announcing a move.

Basically, the more I started wanting to leave, the more I felt guilty leaving about the things here that have been so awesome for me in this, the worst year of my life. Then some unpleasant things transpired this week that just made me feel pushed. They were things that reminded me why I never really minded not being here in the first place. I stopped feeling so guilty about wanting to leave, and replaced it with swirls of anger and resentment and just general angst.

God worked some things out for me, like He does.

The lesson for the kids this morning was about God's provisions for us, because we belong to Him. The memory verse is "My God will provide for your needs" Phil. 4:19. I've been praying for provision for a few weeks now, and its nice to have that scriptural reminder.

The sermon this morning came from Ephesians. Don't you love it when God helps your eye to wander to EXACTLY the scripture you needed, even when it has absolutely nothing to do with the message you're hearing? Me too.

"Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath and resentment and quarreling and slander be banished from you, with all malice." Ephesians 4:31

That, my friends, is a prayer answered. I've been praying for days now for God to change my heart and used some of those exact words. The feelings have been decreasing, but I knew it was still there. And then I saw that scripture...

I've said it before and I'll say it again, God is so cool.

cleaning like whoa

Despite the cooler temperatures, I still just really don't like working outside. Maybe when I have my own house, I'll enjoy watering the lawn or putting in some new flowers. But after about an hour of hauling fence posts and tree pieces (trunk chunks and branches), I was over the project and found other things to do with my time. In order to contribute, I steam cleaned the carpet. Its not like it didn't need it, especially after poor Sadie's accidents. Needless to say, both of my parents are in awe of Bissell's and my mad skillz.

My dad and our next door neighbors, Marcus and Evelin, worked it out on the backyard, and it doesn't look so disasterous. The front curb on the other hand... we're waiting for the crews to get to our street to haul it off.



In other potentially spectacular news... D and I have been talking pretty much every day. Amazing, isn't it? We like talking to each other. Ross and I were discussing how that shouldn't be as uncommon as it is, given that marriage is an optional institution. Go figure. Anyhoo, in one of our many recent conversations, he told me about some big life changes in the life of his douchebag brother (sorry, that wasn't nice). It seems Austin has finally discovered that life is better lived together. He's packing up and leaving Atlanta for Phoenix, and more importantly, for Nicole. They had been together for several years, and about the time we were getting married, Austin was saying she was the one. Then he started freaking out about getting married, etc, one thing led to another and they broke up. Fast forward almost a year later, and they're back together and he's following her to Phoenix. Here's why that's awesome. Austin's fast and cool bachelor lifestyle has been a huge influence on D and his desire to not be married. Maybe this will alter his perception for the good. Let's pray about it!

good scripture...

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us.

Romans 8:18


I just heard that on the radio and had to share it. I mean, it applies to a whole multitude of things right now. It applies to my menagerie of trials. It applies to having all the flooring ripped out of the first floor of your house (love you, K). It applies to moving across the country (love you, E). It even applies to an upset stomach! I mean, it really just covers it. Its hard to not get swept up in the down moments of this life, but the only way to really and truly get through them is with Jesus! How small this life is in comparison to the glory of eternity in heaven with Him!

nuggets of not awesome

My mom came and woke me up at 8:30 this morning with 2 nuggets of bad news.

The first was the one that made me cry - Sadie passed in her sleep last night. Before I went to bed last night, I laid in the hallway with her, just petting her, kissing her nose, telling her how much I love her and what a good dog she is. When I went to bed, I prayed that God would end her suffering, either by healing her or by bringing her home. He obviously chose the second one. It's extremely sad, but I know it's better. This house feels weird, though, and it's upset all of the kitties. Animals are sensative, too!

The second nugget was more of a "Well crap. That totally sucks" type of nugget. My brother's house flooded this morning. That's right. IKE didn't flood it, but the thunderstorms that came through with the cold front last night coupled with the debris and ground saturation were just too much for their neighborhood and they got about 3 inches of water in their house. I spend my afternoon and into the evening over there occupying the kids so they could get as much stuff upstairs as possible. What a pain in the neck! Especially since they've lived in that house for about 3 years and this is the second flood. Those beautiful hardwood floors they put in less than 2 years ago are ruined. SUCK.

As far as Ike goes, I realized I have failed to mention the non-immediate property that was affected. We own a house in Texas City. It's the house my mom grew up in, and it's been through some nasty storms (Carla in 1961, Alicia in 1983) and stood firm, so we're hoping it's pretty much fine. My sister-in-law's family has a beach house down on the island by Jamaica Beach. That's down on the west end, where they aren't releasing images yet and rescue crews still can't access. From what we hear, it's still completely underwater. People matter more than possessions, so we're still counting ourselves extremely blessed at this point. And I still believe it was my hurricake that did it. :o)

On this post Ike Saturday...

We survived, and were for sure on the lucky end of the stick. I posted some hurricane pictures on facebook...

I stayed up all night with Mom and occassionally Dad. Denver texted to check on us around 1:30, which was a pretty huge comfort to me, given the role reversal from Hurricane Ivan. The power flickered a lot after the storm made landfall around 1, but didn't go out until 5am. We started the generator and continued watching coverage. That's right. Our cable never even went out, despite the tree that fell on the box outside. Then a little after 6am, the power came back on, and I finally went to sleep.

I appreciate everyone who's been checking on me throughout this. It's made me feel incredibly loved and that's invaluable.



The saddest thing about this for us has been our border collie, Sadie. She's 13 and blind, and she got extremely sick last night. We thought the storm was just making her nervous, even when she started to throw up a little. We knew she was really sick, though, around 3am when she started having diarrhea that was basically just straight blood. I know that's really disgusting, sorry. She has had accidents all over the house. It's miserable for her and miserable for us because we can't do anything for her right now. We're afraid that come Monday, we're going to have to have her put to sleep. I know it might seem silly, since she's a dog, but she's a part of our family, and we're very upset about it. Please pray about that for us, and for her to not be in pain.

waiting is the hardest part

It's just shy of 10pm on Friday. Ike should be making landfall in the next 2-3 hours. We still have power. We're still dry. Our wind is a bit gusty.

The generator is set up, and we have the essentials ready to go for the night - ie the worst of the storm.
-fridge
-lamps
-fans
-tv
-dvd player

Also, I baked a Hurricake. It's AWESOME.

We have everything we would need, including extra toilet paper. The only way we could possibly be more secure is if our windows were boarded up. Almost no one in this area has them boarded, so I don't super concerned. Dad and I did a bang up job securing everything outside this morning.

Now it's just the waiting game...

I wish I could stop thinking about Hurricane Ivan. I remember how that storm ate me up inside, how worried I was about D, and how hard it was to get ahold of him for days. I totally understand how some of y'all are feeling right now. I really do appreciate all of the calls and texts I've gotten today. I feel so loved by my amazing friends. Thanks y'all. Cell service will get spotty around the storm, but keep trying and I will try my best to let y'all know how we fared as soon as I can!

I loooooooooooove you. And your prayers.

Ike, Ike Baby.

First of all, it's September 11th and that warrants some reverence. Do you remember where you were? I freaked out in my dorm. I lived on the 11th floor of a 14th floor dorm building, 2 blocks from the capitol building of the largest state and the home state of our president, on campus at the largest university in the country AND the university where the president's daughter and nephew were currently enrolled. It was a horrible day for our nation and at the same time, a beautiful day for our nation. Say a prayer for the fallen and for the ones they left behind, as well as for the terrorists.

Now for regional news.

I LOVE thunderstorms. I do not LOVE hurricanes. I wasn't all that concerned until this morning. I mean, we have a generator, and Mom and I went and bought some food (canned of course) and water, figuring we'd only need stuff for a day, MAYBE 2. I was even cracking jokes with Ross about the dreaded Cone of Uncertainty! Then we saw the models this morning and suddenly, the mood has changed. We're still planning to stay here, with all 5 animals. My mom grew up in Texas City (which they're currently predicting a 20 foot storm surge to hit) so she's an old salt with storms. And this isn't the first hurricane I've been through in this house. I mean, for Hurricane Alicia, my parents had to stock up on diapers because I was only a year old. My mom remembers "fondly" Hurricane Carla, so she made this atrocious face this morning when some idiot reporter called Ike "the second coming of Carla."

Keep us in your prayers. Not just my family, but the whole region. It's gonna be a doozy.

Its totally craftacular!

So far, September has not exactly been a deep blog month for me, and maybe that's refreshing. It hasn't exactly been drama free for me, but I've been in the mood to blog about the little things that make me happy. That being said, I completed another craft tonight. I need to get a paint pen and do a few touch ups to the frame, but overall, I'm totally delighted with how it turned out.



It's a French memo board made with real wine corks! The gold buttons down the middle are the caps off of bottles of Moet & Chandon White Star, for the classy element. I have lots of wine decorations for my kitchen, and a memo board is perfect in the kitchen, for coupons, recipies, etc. I loooooooove it. Now all I need is a kitchen to hang it in!

ain't goin' down till the sun comes up

So, Denver and I started chatting online around 11 last night. I finally went to bed well after 6 this morning. It was AWESOME. No pressure, no stress. Well, I mean, the first 30 minutes always makes my stomach clench up, but after that. none. We talked about work, Sunday school, football, ANTM, and a million things in between. It was like being on a date but we already know each other's likes, dislikes, and interests, so it was easy. It was all the reasons we fell in love with each other in the first place, and in the same format, too, ironically - online chatting.

Best part? He told me he's looking forward to me coming up there at the end of the month.

I caved.

Today, I bought Christmas stuff. I bought my wreath and a garland (which I will decorate after Thanksgiving) because they were half price and so it was $8 for both of them. I also bought some fabric because my mom is going to make a table runner for my coffee table. We went ahead and got it because we'd scouted 4 different stores and that was the only nutcracker material we'd seen. Plus this gives Nanner lots of time to make it.

In non-seasonal binge purchases, I'm addicted to wedding magazines. Thanks, brides!

September isn't Summer

I don't care what the thermometer or my damp armpits say, September is the start of AUTUMN, aka my favorite season. Here are a few reasons why it's my number 1.

1. My favorite color is orange, so that works.
2. FOOTBALL.
3. hoodies and cardigans with flip flops.
4. all the Christmas stuff comes out (if you know me, you know that I ADORE Christmas decorations.)
5. FOOTBALL.

Since today was the first day of September, I lit my mulled cider candle (smells AMAZING), watched football, and crafted a beautiful centerpiece.




Nothing says "fall" like styrofoam vegetation and balls. It makes me feel festive, and added to my excitment when UCLA upset Tennessee in overtime.

If you need me, I'll be lost at Garden Ridge.