A Metaphor

So, Friday I was sitting in the student center eating an extremely healthy Chic-Fil-A lunch. I got a regular drink, roughly the size of a medium drink at, oh I dunno, McDonald's maybe. However, the straws the student center employs are those little bendy-straws, that we all loved as kids. I loved them because they make that cool little straw-bendy-noise when bent and un-bent quickly. What I found on Friday, however, is that it is very difficult to make said bendy-straw actually reach down to the bottom of the cup when there is a lid on the cup. Once the bendy section passes through the hole in the lid, it is very difficult to line it up exactly at 180 degrees so that the pressure exerted on the straw will move the lower of the segment down further into the cup. I probably sat for 5 minutes (valuable time!) trying to figure out how, without yielding to the temptation to simply take off the lid and drink from the cup, to get the straw to reach the bottom of the cup. Finally, I pushed my cup away in disgust. I do NOT like to drink directly from cups, so I reasoned that if the straw would not reach the bottom, then I was probably not meant to get the last 4 ounces of my drink anyways. I pushed the cup away and got back to studying. A few minutes later, as I was packing up my things to go to class (nutrition class, ironically), a quick glance around me revealed no less than three students, all sitting at different tables, who were fighting with (and losing to) their bendy-straws in frustration. As I surpressed a giggle, the thought occured to me that I was experiencing a living metaphor. Of course, I won't tell you what that is, because that wouldn't be any fun. I'll leave you to ponder it. The lesson is yours.

Lots. And lots.

Sorry to all of you readers who, well, have given up on me! I had nearly given up on me too. I think that for this blog I often sit around waiting for inspiration, while the things my readers probably want to know are happing all around me!

Thanksgiving was fun...I got to not use my brain on chemistry for a whole week! Yeah! We had a total of fifteen people at our Thanksgiving meal this year, and that is especially rewarding to me. I thrive on having lots of people around, so it was super-great! It was especially, um, special because my brother and his wife came to our house for the first time. (They live 6 hours away...it's not like they live nearby and avoid us. Come on, people!) We had a great meal, and all I had to cook was the ham, turkey, and 5 pies! What a steal! All of our guests left on Friday.

Before they left, we all went out to Chilli's for a lunch, at which Archie started screaming that his ear was hurting. It was pitiful. I think kids have "doctor's not in radar." Finally, I remembered that Searcy has a Primecare clinic, so we ended up there. He had a double ear infection. Poor lil guy. After that we went home (I should add that Kenny is working days this week, so he missed all of this) to put up the Christmas tree! Yeah! Archie went to bed for a nap, so Kale and Abby and I worked together to "fluff" the fake tree. (I'm not a grinch...I have bad pine allergies!!)

After a trip to Lowe's for extra lights (I think put about 1200 lights on our tree this year. You should see it!!!!), we settled in and started decorating the tree. It turned out really, really well! Score!

Saturday, I had a babysitter keep the kids, so that I could go to Little Rock to do what is hopefully one of our LAST Christmas shopping trips! I got a TON of our shopping done. Probably 5x more than I would have with the three kiddos. That was a real gift to me. Thank you, Janice!! You're a rock star!!! I came home sick, though. I think I must have had the cold of the century coming on, but my subconscious told my body it had to wait until all of the Thanksgiving guests went home. So, it hit with a vengeance yesterday afternoon.

All of that said, I'm so thankful and refreshed after a week-long brain-break. It was nice. Except that now I'm basically brain-dead. DON'T ask me how to do an electron diagram! Yikes!! But it'll all kick in about 9 am tomorrow. Back to the grind!

Talk to you soon!

The Quad

After visiting the bonfire memorial, we walked around to some notable places on campus. First, we went to the place where Mike and Amanda courted. That was cute. It's fun to see big tough Marines lovin' on their wives! I should know...I married one!! (Yes, be jealous!) Then, we saw Amanda's dorm. And then, here's the real highlight of the day, we went to the Quad. This deserves a whole new paragraph.

For those of you who went to Harding, it's a little difficult to explain what we saw there. Unlike Harding, Texas A&M is a hard-core military school. In fact, when it first opened its doors, I dunno, like 140,000 years ago, it was a military school. As such, it has a huge Corps Cadets program. The Corps is broken down into companies. Kenny was the Commanding Officer his senior year of G-2 (the Gladiators...best unit A&M has ever seen! Um, unfortunately, it doesn't exist anymore. Currently.) Mike was in K-2 (Killers.) Fortunately for us, the Killers are alive and well. I had NO idea what to expect!

Before each homegame, the Corps units all do a parade on the quad. (For those Aggies reading this, please know that this is ALL new to me, so I'm doing my best to describe it. Please overlook any aggregious and fundamental errors!!) The first thing we see are the Cadets of one unit "Wildcatting" in. Basically, they run like they're on fire(in a line) out of their dorm building, hands in the air, and hollering at the tops of their lungs! That was quite a sight to behold!

We went up, next, into the Killer dorm. It was special to me to get to share this time with Mike, particularly. When he got on deck, he started talking to a leader of the current K-2 company. When the guy figure out Mike is a major in the Marine Corps, we were afraid he was going to call the whole unit to attention. That would have been very awkward for all of us! Fortunately, the guy decided not to do that. I got to see the unit's pre-quad rituals. Then, they wildcatted out too. (Um, this could be called Bobcatting...I can't remember, and Kenny's at work! I'm SO sorry!)

After the guys ran out, we broke into one of the freshman's dormrooms. More on that later.

I'm going to be late for Chem lab...just wanted to get some more on "paper" while I had a minute. More to come soon!

Bonfire

Okay, I have to backtrack to get you up to speed. Things have been quite eventful around here! Two weekends ago, as I think I mentioned before, Kenny took me down to College Station for my FIRST Texas A&M game. I wrote from Houston. We've been home a week now, and my heart stayed in Texas! We got up on Saturday morning and went with Mike and Amanda to College Station from Houston, stopping at Christy's (no idea if that's how you spell it) for kolaches, which are these cool pastries filled with various meats and cheeses. I also had an apple fritter....my favorite!! Satiated, we drove on. Upon our arrival at Texas A&M, we went straight to the Bonfire Memorial. For those non-Ags out there, in 1999, the bonfire at Texas A&M fell, killing 12 students. This bonfire is traditionally 5 stories high, so you can imagine the devastation that this caused. Since it happened, Kenny had never been to the memorial. I'm not sure if Mike had or not. It was really, really amazing. As you walk in, you go down a walkway flanked by a concrete wall cut into, well, notches I guess. Each notch represents a year of bonfire. Notably, 1963's had no notch...that was the year when President Kennedy was killed. There was no bonfire that year. As you enter the heart of the memorial, you see quickly that it is set up as a compass. For each of the 12 students, there is a doorway. Each doorway looks out to its student's hometown. Inside each doorway is a bronze-cast portrait of the student, an inscription of his/her hometown, and inscriptions of quote made by family and friends, and sometimes the students themselves. It was an emotional experience to walk from doorway to doorway and read the pain these families and the school felt. Still feel. And then, right there in the middle of the compass is "Center pole." There is a round stone there with the date of the accident inscribed. On it, students and friends have laid coins which (to our best guess) mean something like "good luck" or "best wishes." The four of us shared an emotional moment there at Center pole. My first and last Center pole. We all agreed that we were glad we went to the Bonfire Memorial first...it set the tone for an amazing day....

Whoop!!

So, yesterday Kenny and I flew down to Houston. Did you notice that there were no kids listed after the "Kenny and I"? That's right. My patron saint in-laws are keeping all three kids for 4 days and 3 nights, while Kenny and I have a mini-vacation for the weekend. And it gets better. We didn't just fly to Houston for a simple getaway. Nooooo. We flew to Houston to meet up with and stay with some of our dearest friends whom we haven't seen in, oh, something close to two years. God is good!! Mike and Amanda Owen both went to Texas A&M with Kenny. However, I didn't meet them until Kenny and Mike were together in flight school in Pensacola, Florida. Then, since they are stalkers (it's so obvious, Mike!), they followed us to Okinawa, Japan. We were finally separated when we moved to North Carolina. They moved to Corpus Christi, Texas. However, this is one of those rare friendships that has stood the test of time and distance. They are family to us. In fact, even their family is family to us. We are staying with Mike's parents this weekend. (By "we", I mean all of us...Kenny, me, Mike, Amanda, and their son Austin! Yikes! Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Owen!) Today (Friday), Mrs. Owen is taking Austin for the day. Mike, Amanda, Kenny, and I are headed out on the town. We're going to hit some museums and eat some AWESOME food, and basically soak up our time together. But it gets better. (Doesn't it always?!) Tomorrow is the real event. Mike, Amanda, and Kenny are taking me to my first EVER Texas Aggies football game. WHOOP!!!!!!!!! I am beyond excited about this! For those of you unfortunate non-Aggies (with whom I number myself), a Texas A&M football game is a BIG deal. I've never heard of another school with such rich tradition and history. I confess that I am more than a little intimidated by what I don't know...basically, I'm afraid I'll look like a fool! They have "yell leaders", NOT to be confused with cheerleaders, who are all guys. They stand by the field and use arm motions to let the crowd know which cheer we are going to do. So, instead of the usual cheerleaders doing the cheer and the crowd clapping, the WHOLE stadium (minus opposing team fans) does the cheer. I CANNOT wait!! So, tomorrow is for marroon and white! I'll let you know if I survive! And the best part of the whole deal is that I get to experience this with such dear old friends. God is the best. Talk to you soon!

Wingman

So, it seems lately, that I'm having to learn to rely on other people to help me be the mom that I need and want to be. Yesterday was a perfect example of what I meant. Kenny is out of town, and he's my usual 'help' on Mondays. However, it's hard to do much from Missouri, so I had to find other options. During my morning classes, all the kids are in school, so I'm covered. It's after school that things just sort of went berserk. At 3:45, Kale has swimming lessons. Meanwhile, I realized (only late Sunday night) that I have a 4:00 class on Mondays. Yikes!!!!!! So, I called our friend Paula whose son Sam is in swim lessons at the same time, and asked her if she could be responsible for Kale during swim lessons. Then, I called our friends (recently-married college students) Branden and Sophia to see if Abby and Archie could stay with them during the 4-5 hour. So, I drop everyone off at their respective places and drove to my class, where I had a major presentation due. Gulp! Presentation went fine. Raced back to pick them up. All of them. Collectively. Then, we booked over to soccer practice, from 6-7. Stopped by Subway on the way home for sandwiches. Hey, it's better than french fries, right? Got home. Gulped food down. Put kids in bath. Then, our new babysitter Janice came over because I had a Delta Gamma Rho meeting to go to. Marvin, my father-in-law also came over, because I thought Janice wasn't coming on time. Thankfully, she showed up early. Unfortunately, that meant that Marvin drove over for nothing. So sorry, Marvin!! I go to the meeting, come home, chat with Janice, and then crash into bed. This morning, our friend Wendi Mathews came by to pick up Archie because I have lab. Then, tonight, our friend Ryan is watching Abby and Archie, while Marvin takes Kale to cub scouts. I'm going to a girls' night out at Doc's. Yeah! Anyways, that's beside the point. The point is, I'm SO grateful to have so many wonderful friends and family who are willing to help me get done what I need to get done. I feel so very supported and loved. And really, really blessed.

*Note: These two days are not representative of our normal life. They just were crazy days. And no, I'm not trying to run my in-laws ragged!!

Talk to you soon!

The weekend

The weekend...

That's a strange, elusive creature at our house. Sure, we do experience days called Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but I'm not sure I know what a leisurely weekend is. Is that a real thing? It seems like in my vague memory I can picture something like a fun game we called football on tv, while friends (who I can't picture) came over and we ate nachos with yummy crock-pot cheese sauce. But was that all a figment of my imagination? I'm really not sure.

Today is actually a weekend. For the first time in a long time, Kenny and I are going on a date. We're actually eating out twice, just to make up for lost time. We're going to our favorite place in Little Rock, The Flying Burrito, and then to the Delta Gamma Rho function, and then to Outback! Lots of food! That sounds like a weekend, doesn't it?!

I'm not sure why we've had "weekend issues" for this entire schoolyear so far. Kale and Abby are both playing soccer, and I haven't been to a game yet! This is extremely sad to me. Today is no different. I've got long-lost college friends coming over for breakfast. (Well, I see one of them regularly. The other lives in Wisconsin. Who lives in Wisconsin?!) Anyways, so the only time we could get together was this morning. Bummer. But I'm really excited to see them! However, it means missing Abby's game. Next week, however, I SHOULD be able to go! Go Green Team Go!! Kale is red, but he's far less excited about it than Abby is.

Well, I must go. It's time for my weekend to start. I hope you all have a weekend too! Talk to you soon!

Birthday Fever

So, Abby and Archie have both had their birthdays recently, and with said birthdays comes a certain squiggly little monster aptly named "Birthday Party." Last Saturday, Abby had her party. I let her invite about 8 friends and a couple of our college kids over for her party. I asked each girl to wear her favorite apron, and the girls made pizzas on English muffins and decorated their own cupcakes. It was very low-key. Today, since Archie also had a birthday but had not yet had a party, I decided to have a small extended family party. So, per Abby's request (for Archie), we had green birthday cake with green frosting. Yummo. It, too, was low-key and really sweet. Then, I rushed Kale over to a friend's house for his birthday party, while Kenny and the kids and I went to yet another house for a first-birthday party. All of this got me thinking...

What is the big deal about birthdays, anyways? What would be lost if we simply didn't keep track of them? I only ask this because my eyes have been opened lately to the reality that America (particularly Searcy, Arkansas, America) has the birthday party craze. Moms here will go to any extreme to have the perfect party. No matter the cost. I endured a conversation somewhere just on Friday with a mom who told me about taking her daughter for a manicure, pedicure, and massage for her birthday. One party Abby went to was held at the Rose Room at Ann's Briday. Complete with photographer (with a paid-for 5x7 photo for each girl), professionally-printed invitations, and real-live Disney princesses! Today, the party Kale went to was set up as a fair with castle bouncy, miniature golf, and a cotton candy machine! He brought home about 4 inflatable hammers (about 3 feet long) and one weird stuffed dog (whose head spins) just like you would win at the fair!No pressure, right?! No.

I am going to buck the system. And I'm asking you, the other parents and parents-to-be who read this blog to do the same. It is such a waste to spend all that money on a day to celebrate a day which otherwise holds no great importance. There are people in Africa who have NO IDEA how old they are, and I'm quite certain they are, in fact, alive anyway. I'm not saying that birthday parties are, you know, bad in an of themselves. It's just that I've come to believe that many of the birthday parties I go to are really not about birthdays. They are an excuse for overly zealous moms to try to impress all the other moms so that those moms will want to be just like them. Ah, but they can't be. Because next year, the party will be even bigger. Stop it! Seriously. Stop it!! Let's just let our kids be kids and stay out of the game! Can a sister get a break?! Talk to you soon!

One Mole

So, did you know that 1 mole = 6.02x10e-24 of any atom? I do. You should come take chemistry with me. That is very useful information!

Help! I'm becomming a geek...

I don't have time to write more now...I just wanted to expand your mind a little (as mine shrinks), and touch base.

Talk to you soon!

Let's Go! Let's Go! Delta Gamma Rho!

So, I've been chosen as a sponsor for a social club on Harding's campus called Delta Gamma Rho. The social clubs at Harding work much like the national fraternities/sororities, but ours are only found at Harding. When I was a student (um, the first time) at Harding, I pledged Delta Gamma Rho, so it is a particular honor to be able to now be a sponsor for them. A what? Sponsoring rocks! You should all try it!! Basically, I get to do everything that the club members do...but for free! For instance...their first function is in a couple of weeks at the Little Rock Zoo. Kenny and I will attend. The club will pay for our admission to the zoo, an event t-shirt for me, our babysitting costs, and they will even reimburse us for the cost of gas. (Little Rock is about an hour away.) Great deal!! It's interesting being back in the club as a sponsor...in some ways I still feel that I'm the same age as the college kids. But cognitively, I know that I am not. THEY know that I'm not too! For instance, I still have my DGR jersey from college. At Harding, Friday's are jersey days. I decided that since I am a student again and have several classes with DGR girls, it would be a good idea to show my DGR pride by wearing my jersey. It doesn't even look the same as theirs anymore! The design and fabric are the same, but when I was in school, we cut off the bottom of the jersey and wore a shirt underneath. We cut the ends of the sleeves off too! Now, nobody cuts anything off their jerseys. So, I'm totally OLD school. But, you know what, I don't care! I'm proud to be a sponsor of the best social club ever. I'm excited to have a chance to influence these young minds the way our sponsors influenced me! And I'm excited to be back in the Delta Gamma Rho circle. It is so special to me. Talk to you soon!

An Old Lady

So, I'm now two weeks into the school year...only this year I'm IN school myself! Gulp! My first class of the day is Chemistry 114 (I think it's pretty much an intro to Chemistry course), and it's full of not-so-bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed freshmen who probably see no reason to get up and have class before 10:00 chapel. Things were going along just swimmingly until a specific conversation I had with Kenny's cousin, Deb. Deb related to me a conversation she had had with her Freshman daughter and said Freshman daughter's Freshman friend. I, in turn, will relate it to you:

Deb: "So, said Freshman daughter's Freshman friend, how are your classes going?"
SFDFF: "They're going well, Mrs. Deb, thanks. Chemistry's pretty hard though." (Small talk added by me for flow.)
Deb: "What's Chemistry class like?"
SFDFF: "Well, it's hard work, but it's going fine. But for some reason we have this really old
lady in our class."
Deb: "That's funny, our cousin is taking that class, I think..."

This parlay went forward long enough for Deb to ascertain that SFDFF was, in fact, talking about ME!! I'm the 'really old lady'!! What?! I'm sorry...when did 30 become 'really old'? Seriously?! I recognize that I do not look like a freshmen. I also recognize that I probably don't look like a typical college student. HOWEVER, I do not recognize that any aspect of my physique, such as it is, could possible qualify me for the title "Really Old Lady." Come on! I'm going to propose that a new, um, maxim, if you will, be put into place, clearly stating that a person does not qualify as "Really Old" until they triple, nay, quadruple your own current age. For instance, to a six year old, a 24 year old is probably really old. To a 15 year old, I can see a 60 year old being really old. But to a 19 year old, 30 is NOT really old! More like 80! Right? Help a sister out! And to me, who is now 30, I guess that would mean that a 120 year old is Really Old. And I think that we can all agree that a 120 year old, is, in fact, Really Old. Past that, and you're just grateful to be dead...

Tammy

I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. Our family's been through a lot lately, and sometimes when things are tough it's hard to know what to write. But I'm back now, so you can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Wait, what's that sound....oh, the collective sigh of relief. Good. Moving on.

My sister Tammy died two Thursdays ago, and the funeral was last Tuesday. That sentence seems so strange to me to be writing. She was only 28 years old, but in truth her body was much older. We're not really sure what happened to her...it will take 5 more weeks to get the autopsy back, which I find curious because the autopsy was performed in a day. It's not like they, you know, perform an autopsy for 6 weeks or anything. At any rate, we don't know what happened. Strangely, that's really okay with me. Maybe I just don't need to know in order to have closure. My parents don't feel that way, I think. They need to know. But for me, it makes no difference. This is not how I thought I would feel.

So, yesterday in church we were talking about lamenting. There are lots of examples in the Bible of lamenting. There is even a specific form for lamenting. We had a great discussion on lamenting. But here's the thing: I'm tired of lamenting. We had 2-weeks in the church service on lamenting. Then, Tammy died. The next week was her funeral. Then, we studied lamenting in our Sunday school class. I just want to be happy for a while, people!! Seriously!!

Also, I'm finding that there is a distinction between public and private lamenting that not many people talk about. When Tammy died, my good friend Mary Alice rushed right over. She helped feed my kids supper, and gave me hugs and heard me out as I spilled my heart. I was able to lament to her and get a lot of stuff off my chest. But when I was at the funeral service, there were a lot of people there, most of them christians. According to what we learned in church, that was a time for lament. But I found myself just wanting to run away. To be in my cave. I wanted all those people to just leave me alone, even though I've known most of them for years and years. It was such a relief to get in the car and drive back to Searcy!

There was a girl at church who had this wonderful insight. She came up and said, "I'm just going to give you a hug." This may sound strange, but I so appreciated the gesture. Most people had a lot of questions about what had happened. If they weren't asking about what happened, they were asking if I was okay. This one lady had the foresight to just offer comfort without asking anything of me. I'm going to remember to to do that from now on. She was a safe place for me. Thanks, Jenn.

I don't mean to say that I don't cherish all the cards and people who showed they care so much. Quite the contrary. This has been a very affirming experience for us with Downtown, our church home. I have never felt more a part of a church family! I'm simply pointing out that it is good to lament, but I don't believe that it MUST be done in public. Sometimes that's an 'inner circle' type of activity. Or even an 'all by myself' activity. That's okay too.

Okay, I promise a happier post next time...it'll be soon!

It Begins

Hi again!

So, yesterday was the first day of school. Parents around the country got through Sunday night with nervous excitement, while kids were either dreading school or excited to go back. Kale was decidedly in the excited category. Abby was in the dreading category (although she's never been to school.) But she knew that all kindergarteners have naptime. This knowledge overshadowed all good things Abby knew about kindergarten. When the dreaded Sunday night in question finally rolled around, the Robertson household was unusually structured. The kids got their all-important-first-day-of-school-must-impress-the-teacher-because-if-I-don't-my-academic-career-could-be-ruined outfits all laid out and ready to go (Abby's complete with matching hair ribbon.) We did drills with their new alarm clocks to make sure they knew how to hit 'snooze' (although we did NOT tell them that the 'snooze' button is there so that people can sleep longer.) We ran through the checklist for the morning routine: Turn off alarm; get dressed; put pajamas away; make bed; brush teeth; then you can bother mommy and daddy. Kenny and I went to bed feeling that we had just created a little family of Von Trapps who were fully capable of a seamless first morning of school! So, Monday morning finally reared its glorious head. Much to our delight, our von Trapps remembered their morning routines! The got up, got dressed, put their pajamas away, made their beds, and brushed their teeth, and came into our room to tell us they were ready for breakfast. It was beautiful. Seamless. Almost a work of art. So, we head off to school. Gulp! We get there (very early, just my style!), and join the melee. There are separate lines for different grades, but no signs to point you in a direction. The casual observer might not even be able to identify that there are separate lines. It's like a club. Only those who are in the club know about the lines. Are you in? As Heidi Klum says, "As you know, one day you're in, the next day you're OUT." (Cue German accent and high heels.) Well, by divine intervention, we overhead someone else (who was IN) talking about the lines, so we found where we were supposed to be. Abby, to my immense relief, immediately spotted a friend, so she sat happily down in the kindergarten line. Kale, who is at his best in a crowd of total strangers, was so excited to sit down in a group of kids he'd never seen before. No worries there. Some kids weren't so lucky. There was one little boy next to Abby who was just bawling his eyes out. His parents dropped him off (for kindergarten) and didn't stay. His backpack was completely full of his school supplies, since his parents didn't bother to take him to open house. He was terrified and lost. It was pitiful. Fortunately, Kenny found another 'Harding' family whose son was in his class. They helped him out. On the other side of Abby, a couple of girls down, sat a little girl who was completely conked out. Her head was bobbing, and she was nearly talking in her sleep...her mouth kept forming words, although no sound came out. It was so cute! So, all things considering, I figured my kids were in pretty good shape! Finally, the teachers came out to retrieve the kids, and we walked them back to their classrooms and said farewell. Believe it or not, I was strangely unemotional. Last year,when Kale started kindergarten, I was a mess. But this year, I'm just so excited for them both! And, sure enough, when we finally made it through the pick-up line, which was roughly the length of I-40, they were both in very high spirits! They both had a really good time. Abby even said naptime wasn't too bad. Thanks, Lord!! What I learned: Structure is a good thing. And even I can give the kids structure. Always, always, always, wait with your kids on the first day of school, no matter what. And, for Pete's sake, get to the pick-up line early! It's a zoo out there! Talk to you soon!

Our Boys

So, I stayed up WAY too late tonight watching the Olympics. Along with 2/3 of the country. Do you ever wonder what it could do to our economy for 2/3 of the country to suddenly operate on a large sleep deficit? Imagine it: Suddenly production goes down. Morale goes down. Tempers flare because of sleep loss. Soon, there could be riots in the streets. I think this is really psychological warfare being furtively declared on us by the Chinese. The Olympics as a warfare tactic. Discuss.

Of course, what the Chinese aren't considering is that in two weeks, when all this pomp and circumstance is finished, Americans will suddenly get an extra hour or two of sleep at night, collectively, while the Chinese will be wearing themselves out trying to clean up after all the filthy foreigners. USA will rise again!! Um, moving on...

I was especially touched tonight by the men's medley medal ceremony. (First, I should say that I was proud of our athletes for actually placing their hand on their hearts during the national anthem...you people, you should all do that! Seriously! A little respect please! Okay, no more soapbox. At least not about that.) What I was drawn to was first their age. They are so young. Not unlike our soldiers and Marines out there fighting for our flag in a completely different venue. These guys banded together, fought together (and sometimes against each other), and rocked it out. That's what I love about America. We may not have the hordes of people or the government-sponsored training or even the nicest equipement. We may be the underdogs. At least to the world. But when I look at America, what I see is spirit. We're fighters. We get a little teared up at the national anthem. Will-power can take you a long way. We have willpower. Determination. FREEDOM. These things make me proud to see the flag raised above the others in the ceremony. These things make me proud that our boys (and girls) are fighting their hearts out in an unpopular war just because they see a need and their leader told them to. These things make me proud that Kenny was a Marine, and that the kids and I took our turn sacrificing precious time with him and endured fear for his safety. This is AMERICA. Whether it's the olympics or the frontlines, Americans know how to fight and how to persevere. So, next time that anthem is played, quit staring at the gold medals. Quit staring at those cool, but slightly girlish, swim suits the guys are wearing. Focus on the flag, and think about all those who have fought for it in so many different ways. I LOVE AMERICA!!! (And for pete's sake, get that hand over that heart...) Sorry for the sermon...talk to you soon!

A Holy Hug!

So, I had another weird dream last night. My high school friend Travis was inexplicably throwing pyrex casserole dishes at my head. It was weird. Travis is a good guy...definitely not the type to assault anyone, particularly with heavy kitchenware. Hmm...I'll have to ask him about that.

Last night we had home church at our house. Have I mentioned how much I love our home church? I had something difficult that I needed to bring to the group. I was really sweating it. This could have been an open door for Satan, but instead, God intervened. For starters, he sent two particular, and I think hand-picked, families to our house. The others all had other obligations. This was a blessing because I felt exceptionally free to speak my mind. And the beautiful thing is this: we had complete unity. There were so many points at which feelings could have been hurt or someone could have gotten angry, but instead I found that I was in a group of people who were already thinking the things I was saying. So, next week, as a unified front, we can bring these things up with the whole group. It was wonderful. When Kenny got home from work (he's on days again), I told him I felt like I had been hugged by the Holy Spirit. I have rarely seen a group of people with such singular purpose. It was wonderful. Thank you, Lord! This is His victory!

In response to the above paragraph, I want to say this: If you're living in Searcy, or if you go to Downtown church, or if you are just passing through. Whatever. Our homechurch is lookin' to grow. We'd love to have you. It is a place where I experience God's love, over and over, every single week. Join us!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! It's off to a roaring start!!

The Kale-o-lympics

Sorry it's been so long. I've been in a mental black hole. Just sort of on auto-pilot for a few days, I guess. But, I'm back!! Yeehaw! Um, anyways...

So, Kale has been at daycamp at Camp Wyldewood all week. He's had a really, really good time. Especially because he's there with his good friend Asher. However, yesterday, in honor of the Olympics, Camp W decided to have it's on version of the Olympics. Kale (along with Asher, thank goodness!) was informed he would be representing Kenya. He had to wear a yellow/gold shirt to camp as his team jersey. Right away, I could tell that something was wrong. So, I asked him before he went to bed how he was feeling about the Camp W Olympics. "Not so good, mom," was his instant reply. "Kale, what's bothering you about the Olympics?" "Well, they said we all have to do it." "You don't want to do it?" "Well, I sort of want to." "Then, what's bothering you?" "We only can't do it all if we forget to bring swimming trunks." "So there will be swimming races?" "Yeah." "Kale, are you nervous about the Olympics?" "Yeah." It was heart-wrenching. Here's my son, going to bed, knowing that in the morning the camp he's enjoyed so much is going to have a scary thing that he's being forced to do. The thing is: I can relate. I remember as a child being terrified when I had to compete in sports against other children. I wasn't un-athletic. I think I just got really nervous about competing against other kids. What if I didn't measure up? What if I messed up? What if I looked stupid or inept? ( didn't know the word 'inept'...added that part later.) It wasn't until MUCH later that I enjoyed competition at all, and to this day the only competition I really enjoy is against myself. I do well if I"m trying to best myself...not so well when I'm competing against others. I guess that's how God made me to be. (It's funny I should feel that way...I'm a HUGE sports fan! I LOVE to watch others competing against each other! Ha!) So, sitting on Kale's bed, I'm trying hard to figure out what to say to him. Unfortunately, the only thing I could think of was, "Kale my advice is this: don't tell the other kids you are nervous or don't want to do it. Just gut it out and then it will be over. Be strong." Great advice, right? I'm not so sure. I felt bad even saying that to him. But I wish I had figured out at a much younger age how to conquer my fears and disguise my misgivings. I think things would have been better for me back then. It's hard as a parent, I think, to figure out how to draw a line between wanting to promote the personality that God so intentionally chose for your child and seeing remnants of your own personality that you want to spare your child from going through. Does that make any sense? I'm so proud of Kale. He's brilliantly smart (really), thoughtful, gentlemanly, helpful, he's a leader, even if he doesn't realize it yet, and he's already turning into a strong swimmer. There's so many things I could say about him that I love. And I hurt for him when he hurts. I want to spare him the trials I went though. We are so similar! At least I can rest in the consolation that I feel like I can really understand Kale. I know exactly where he's coming from. I get his motivations and his misgivings. He is definitely MY SON!! Thank you, Lord! Kale spent the night with Asher last night, so I haven't been able to ask him yet how things went at the Olympics. I'm nervous! I'll let you know what he says. Talk to you soon!

A Hail and Farewell

I woke up this morning with my mind all a-twitter. Is a-twitter a word? Here's one thing I really enjoy about God: There's nothing super-special going on right now. We're hanging out in Nashville. Headed to Searcy tomorrow. Shopping today. Just usual stuff. Yet, I woke up this morning with my mind excited and my heart full. I think sometimes God just gives me the "happy factor" for no particular reason...just a little gift. (Early birthday gift?) Thanks, Lord!

*Warning: The use of the world "tumult" in the following does not imply negative feelings. Quite the contrary! It simply refers, for my purposes, which should not be looked up in Webster's, as indicative of major change.*

So, I'm turning 30 on Tuesday. 30. Really. This idea is very strange to me. I think I've been sort of processing it over the past week or two. I thought for a long time that when I turned 30, I would be grieving the loss of my 20's. I thought I would feel old. I thought it would be a difficult transition. What I'm finding, however, is the opposite.

I'm sure all of you had perfectly lovely calm, mature, normal 20's. I'll just say I didn't. I think I came into my 20's in a bad place. I had just broken up with Jerk (see 'The Great Rembleski'). I was hurting inside in a huge way. And not finding much help outwardly because everyone knew Jerk was a jerk, so no one had any sympathy! (Except Brandon and Stephen. Thanks, guys!) Tumult. Then, I met Kenny. Tumult. Happy tumult, but tumult nonetheless. Then, we got married. More happy tumult. Then, we moved to Florida. Tumult. Then we moved to California. Tumult. Then we moved to Japan. Gulp! Then we had a baby. Gasp! Then we had another baby. Tumult. (I'm running out of cool words, so I'll revert to tumult henceforth.) Then Kenny deployed to Kuwait, and the YOUNG kids and I moved back to Searcy for that 7 months. Major tumult. Then, we moved to North Carolina. Tumult, but not big tumult. Seeing the light at the end of the 20's tunnel. Then we had another baby. If you know Archie, then you KNOW my next word is: tumult! I graduated (finally) from the University of Maryland online. Tumult. Kenny got out of the Marines. Tumult. We moved to Searcy. End tumult. For now.

So, my point is this: My 20's were a whole decade fraught with MAJOR change. There was no year in my 20's when one of the above events did not occur. That's a lot of life change in 10 years. Maybe more than most people go through. Maybe not. At any rate, we've not been very grounded, to say the least. And that is EXACTLY how we wanted it!! We have lived and loved every minute! (Except, perhaps for Kenny's deployment. That was legitimately hard. However, it did afford us great empathy for others in similar situations, which is/will be coming into great use.)

So, in a way, I'm glad to be putting my 20's behind me. We're in Searcy now. Our kids are in school. Actually, I'm going to be in school too! Kenny's done with the military. We're planning to be where we are for a long, long time. I think a nice, long decade of stability will be a welcome change. Of course, God will still keep my heart all a-twitter, and we're excited to see what the 30's hold...they could hold as much change as the 20's! But that would be a tall challenge, to be sure! I'm learning, slowly, to keep some white space in my life. Empty the calendar a bit. Breathe a little. This is an art my 20's did not afford me to master. This white space is allowing me to focus on my God, my family, and my friends. I'm looking forward to more knowledge. I'm looking forward to learning to like me better. I'm looking forward to seeing my children go from tykes to teens. These things will happen in my 30's.

So, thanks, everyone, for all the birthday wishes (and gifts...I know you'll send them!!), and thank you, God, for carrying me through my 20's when I thought I couldn't walk anymore. And for all the special moments...there were many. And for all the amazing thick water friendships you sent me/us. And for all the forgiveness and love. I love you too.

The Mastermind

Hey everybody! Sorry it's been a couple of days. The kids and I are in Nashville, TN, for the present, and really enjoying ourselves! It's so funny...sometimes when I come to Nashville, I can't wait to see everyone: old friends, extended family, people from my old church, etc., but sometimes when I come, I feel the strong need to hide out. This is one such trip. It is strange to me why I feel that way sometimes and at other times exactly the opposite. Curiouser and curiouser. Anyways, the kids, as always, are having a blast. And really I am too. Tonight, we're celebrating my 30th birthday...gasp, although really my birthday is coming up on Tuesday. Cheesecake Factory, here we come!

So, periodically I'm focusing blogs on specific people, and today is one of those days. I feel the need to tell you about Kenny, my husband. Maybe it's because I'm really missing him right now, but he's been on my mind loads, so I thought I'd write about him. Here goes:

Kenny and I are Myers Briggs freaks, so I'll start by saying he's a consumate INTJ. In psychobabble, that means Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, and Judging. All clear now? I thought not! The 'I' means he prefers to have a small, extremely close-knit group of friends than to be in a large crowd. It does NOT mean he's shy. The 'N' means he's a visionary. A brainstormer. However, he's borderline on this, so he dwells in 's' a lot too, which is being detail-oriented. The 'T' means that thoughts and facts guide his decisions more than emotions. The 'J' means he's more structured than spontaneous. He's NOT borderline on the 'J'! If you look up the 'INTJ' in "Please Understand Me II" (our collective favorite book), you'll find that the title for INTJ is "Mastermind." Oh, yeah! That's my husband! He's a Mastermind!! Basically, the Mastermind is a person who ought to be a military general. The world is a chessboard. He can contingency plan better than any other group on the planet. "If we do a, then here's what b will look like. However,if we do c, then here's what will happen." (But a hundred steps further...) Kenny can look at any system, be it industrial, mechanical, communicative, emotional, financial, whatever else, and immediately tell how to make it better and more efficient. If you own a business, you NEED my husband! (He's actually gainfully employed as a helicopter pilot, so that was not a plug for a job!) Kenny is a man who does not make wrong steps. He's a Midas. I'm astonished at how it seems that everything he does just turns to gold. He's just brilliant. Although he'd never want you to know that. (You can imagine what a pain this whole Midas-thing is when I'm trying to beat him at a board game.) This brings me to another thing about the 'Mastermind.' He's a reluctant leader. "Please Understand Me" says that the Mastermind will wait on the sidelines until all the other leaders prove to be inept, and then the Mastermind will come in and fix things. This is Kenny exactly. He does not crave being a leader. Quite the opposite. And this is why he is, in fact, a truly amazing leader. As his wife, I have had the privilege of watching person after person recognize that Kenny is special. Wherever he goes, whatever he does, he seems to end up in charge. His bosses can't help but notice how capable he is. He has a brilliant mind, and a well-controlled tongue. Sometimes, it can be intimidating to think what it is that Kenny really needs me for. He seems so well-rounded. And brilliant. But I think he needs my spontaneity. He needs my emotionalism, although he may have the inclination to eschew it every so often! He needs my ability to mix in a crowd. Also, his leadership style is a 'visionary', according to "Please Understand Me," and mine is a 'catalyst.' The best Visionary in the world might not actually DO anything without a Catalyst. But, together we CAN do anything we set our minds to! So, I'm grateful for my brilliant, humble, quick-thinking, chessboard-seeing, buff, handsome, football-loving, contingency-planning husband Kenny. And I'm grateful that he still needs me. I love you, honey. Talk to you all soon!

The Fall

So, the other day was going well. Seriously. Until. Let me preface this by saying that Archie (our two, nearly three-year-old) is in the throws of potty training. It's been sort of hit or miss, but lately we've had more hits than misses, for which I'm exceedingly grateful. However, after said hits, it sometimes takes a while to get the undies back on. He hasn't figured out how to do this himself, and to be honest, I'm not always aware he's even 'gone potty', so it may take me a while to realize he's in his birthday suit (his favorite outfit!) The other day was just that sort of day. Busy. So, I was in Abby's room helping her tidy up (a continual need for her room), and I'm sitting on the floor helping her stuff clothes into her already full dresser. Archie and Kale were playing on her bed, and I wasn't really paying close attention to them. Focusing on Abby, yeah? I decided that I needed to check on the boys, so I sat up on my knees to peer over the bed at them. As I rise, I realize that Archie is standing on the bed. (This is all in slo-mo.) As I rise further, I realize that he must have gone potty, because he's completely, 100% naked from the waist down. Finally, as I reach full sitting-on-the-knees status, I realize that he's falling. Towards me. It happened in a flash. Before I could react...you guessed it. I had a naked two-year-old sitting square on my face. AAAAHHHHHGHHHGHGHGHH!! And more AAAAGHGHGHHGHHHHHHHHHH!! What did I learn? First, that it's probably best not to let kids play on the bed, especially naked. Second, that underwear is a priority. Period. Talk to you soon!

Part Dieux

As Kenny and I lay in bed last night, tucked in and happy as clams, we thought we were settled down for a peaceful evening of slumber. It sounded so nice! At first, we didn't notice anything was wrong. Suddenly, Kenny JUMPED out of bed yelling, "Not again! No!!!" What?! You may have guessed it. It was Flyzilla, returning to challenge us to a duel. A fight to the death. He soared at my head, his wings all abuzz, and dive-bombed my lamp. Kenny, in graceful fighting motions, was swooping around the room with a towel (why, exactly don't we keep the flyswatter in there?) trying to get an exact GPS coordinate on Flyzilla's location. It was a tense moment. And then another. For several minutes (okay, maybe seconds), we saw no sign of our attacker. Then, out of nowhere, there he was! (On MY side, of course. Go figure.) Just as Kenny raised he towel for the death blow, Flyzilla magically replicated. In unison, we screamed, "There are two of them!!! Aahghhgh!" (That's a direct quote.) They performed a perfect 'kiss off' (pilot lingo for when you, on signal, turn a fast 180 degrees from each other, thereby going in exactly opposite directions.) It was a perfect diversionary tactic! We didn't know which fly to follow! Flyzilla, props to you! However, 'Zilla 2' was less experienced than 'Zilla 1', and he came back around. Kenny got him with one fell swoop! Suddenly angered by his compatriot's demise, Zilla 1 came in for the kill. It all happened in a blur. Kenny struck. Zilla 1 struck. Both went down to the ground. Well, not really. Kenny stayed on his feet. And the truth about Zilla 1 is, he simply disappeared. We couldn't find him anywhere, nor could we hear any buzzing. This legendary night may soon appear in books with titles such as, "10 Greatest Disappearances in History", or "Greatest Insect Feats of All Time!" Only time will tell what became of Flyzilla. Perhaps he has moved to a more worthy battle line. We wish him our best.

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!!

So, I had this awesome dream last night about one of my good friends, Marsha. Kenny and I met Marsha and her husband Jeremy when we lived in North Carolina. At our last Marine Corps Birthday Ball (we didn't know it was our last...incidentally, you should ALL get a marine to take you to the ball...they are so fun!!) we were eating our dinner happily, when Kenny pipes up, "Hey Angie! Do you see that navy guy over there? He went to Harding!" What?! Now, you must understand that we lived in a town in NC that was essentially without a church of Christ. In fact, the only strong contingents of christians were Baptists and Episcopalians. (Did I even spell that right?) So, to meet another church of Christ-er, let alone one from Harding, is pretty remarkable! Of course, I got way excited. Going to church an hour away from home means that during the week you don't have a lot of spiritual friends around you. That gets a little lonely. Oh, you can go out with friends, and I frequently did, but it sometimes felt like there was a part of me they didn't get. I don't like that feeling. So, to see Harding people held very exciting potential!! We went up to Jeremy, who introduced me to Marsha, and the rest is history! Now, you should know that Marsha is my alter ego. Seriously! She's my Tawanda! (Or whatever that lady's name was in Fried Green Tomatoes.) When I need to up my confidence level, get a little sassy, or learn to be bold, I go to Marsha! She's a red-headed spitfire, in the best sort of way! She's a pep talk, another pep talk, a bear hug, and an "I-got-your-back-so-let's-fight-'em!" all rolled into one. She's what I'm lacking when I sometimes need it most. She's a strong, beautiful woman, and I'm so grateful she's my friend! So, in my dream, we were giggling and throwing brown and red ceramic plates down a flight of stares...I'm not sure why...and then we were doing summersaults down the stairs. Ouch! But we were having so much fun!! I woke up feeling like I had had a brain massage because I got to spend a couple of hours with my friend Marsha. Then I had the let-down of realizing that it wasn't real. So, I think I'll call Marsha now...

Mr. Helpful

So, last night was Parents' Night Out at church...three cheers for free babysitting!!! Yeah!! It started at 5:30 (which I didn't realize until 5:15) and ran all the way until 9:00. Well, Kenny was on days yesterday. (He has a very interesting and complex schedule. When he's on days, it's a 12 hour shift starting at 6:30 am. If he's on nights, he starts at 6:30 pm.) Since he was on days, I knew he couldn't meet me until about 7:30 pm. But, I thought, "That's okay! I'll go have dinner and coffee at my favorite spot in Searcy...Midnight Oil!!" I took a book (Anne of Avonlea...go ahead...laugh!) with me to read. I've been watching the series on PBS (yeah, with all my free time, ha ha!), and it occurred to me that I really should actually read the books. So, I go in and order a Don Pepperon (if you use your imagination even a little you might guess that this is basically pepperoni and melted cheese on a bagel. Supper of champions.) and a blackberry Italian soda. All was well. For a spell. I sat contentedly reading about Anne and her jersey cow and the Avonlea Village Improvement Society (I TOTALLY think Searcy should have a Village Improvement Society!) Life was bliss. For a few shining moments. After Anne fixed the problem with the jersey cow, I decided it was time for coffee and dessert. Kenny still had about 30 minutes to drive, so I thought that should be just about perfect. It was about 7:10. I go to order. I get a short decaf mocha and a beautiful piece of spoon cake (a cake I've been trying to duplicate for years, without much success. Ergo, I order it any time I can.) In walks an old friend, Rich O'Connell. With his 3rd son, Ben, who is 13 months old. He was so cute!! (Ben, not Rich.) Rich explains Ben's been crying at a restaurant down the street, so he walked with him down to Midnight Oil. (Overachiever! :^) So I hold Ben and pat him on the back, which promptly caused him to throw up...I was like, "Um, I think I figured out your problem..." It was good to see those two, throw up and all. So, by then my mocha and spoon cake were ready. Yum! I sit down with them and call Kenny. He's nearly there!! Yeah! We talk for a few minutes, and I eat about half of the cake. I can't choke down another bite! So, I save it for my honey. Good wife. Score. At 7:30, Kenny's about 10 minutes out. I offer to go ahead and order for him. He's excited about that prospect. I head up to the counter, about to do a great thing for my husband. THINK AGAIN. I'm up there explaining the menu to him, when Mr. Helpful behind the counter pipes in, "Um, we don't serve sandwiches after 7:00." At first, I thought he was joking. Kenny's driven a whole hour in a car that's got only sketchy ac after having worked a 12 hour+ shift, and now he can't get a meal at the place I've waited for him for 2 hours? I kind of grinned at Mr. Helpful. Mr. Helpful grinned back. I said, "Really, please. Come on. It's a sandwich." "No, all the stuff is put away. I simply cannot make you a sandwich." The girl behind the counter pipes in, "She's been here a really long time. Why don't you help her?" "No, I can't do that. Everything's put away. Besides, I did that once and got in trouble." I couldn't believe my ears. I turned around and walked back to my table in a dazed silence. Kenny was driving also in a dazed silence. We were in a collective dazed silence. Really I wanted to tell Mr. Helpful, who was a Harding student, I'm sure, "Clearly you're not a business student. Because if you were a business student, you would know that it is far better to make a customer completely happy with a very slight bend of the rules (especially a rule which is not in place for safety or health concerns), than to tick off a customer (especially one who blogs) in order to get out of 5-minutes' work. Your boss, when I tell him, and I WILL tell him, will be most unpleased with your un-businesslike decision. Way to go. You know, don't change your major...business doesn't suit you." So, these were the possibly mean thoughts floating around in my head. I heard a little voice speaking to me (very quietly) that perhaps I shouldn't say them. Something about my being a christian. I'm not sure. However, I yielded to said voice, asked for a to-go box for my half-eaten cake, and hurried out of there. I'd like to say I won't be back for a while, but I'm pretty sure that's not true. However, I'm NOT tipping Mr. Helpful. Ever. Unless the little voice talks to me again. So, Kenny went through the drive-through at Arby's where he was promptly given the wrong sandwich, and we had an imperfectly perfect evening, which we finished up with a long talk on a swing at Harding's Campus (which I pointed out to Kenny that he need not fear since he's already got the ole' ball and chain. If you went to Harding you'll understand.) So anyways, if you happen to be in Searcy, hungry, and you go to the best coffee shop ever, aka Midnight Oil, make sure you're there early...the food doesn't stay out for long!

Omega Rules!

I'm headed back to Harding (my school!) in the fall to go to nursing school. Okay, so I may not be the most meticulous person around, and I may not have a great urgency towards details, but I've got a really good bedside manner, and I'm decent in an emergency. So, I'm HOPING that I can study really hard to learn all the detailed "meticulosity", and then can just be good at the other stuff later. I've noticed that there is a certain contingent of moms at Harding. You can see them a mile away. They seem to be all alone, carrying a lot of books, and in a hurry. Oh, and they generally don't look 19. (Except I do. In my mind.) So, anyways, I'm a connector at heart. It's what I do. I love to connect people to other people. I love to hook someone up with just the right person...an employer and employee, for example. I love to know tons of people, and I love to visit everyone I know when I travel. I'm just a connector. It's one of my few real talents. (Kenny's talented at everything else, so we have our bases covered!) So, now I'm on a mission! I am going to connect all the single, solitary non-19-looking moms together! We're taking over campus! I was just saying this morning (at swimming lessons) that we should form a social club of our own...we could have jerseys with "O" on them for "Old Fogies!) and if we went greek it could be Omega. But what to call it? Another mom and I were pondering what it should be called, when Kale piped in, "I know! I know! Call it 'Omega Rules!'" We got a good chuckle out of that. That's my Kale...always helpful! So, come take some classes and join the hottest new thing on campus! We may not look like spring chickens, we may not know that latest boy band, and we may not have great gossip or even cool jewelry, but I'll tell you one thing:
OMEGA RULES!!

The Great Rembleski

So, today my old college suitemate, Erin, came over for a visit. This was significant because we: a. haven't seen each other or spoken to each other since freshman year, and, b. she lives in Oregon. I was a little apprehensive...I HATE smalltalk, and I was a little afraid that all we'd have to talk about was smalltalk. So, I was nervous when I went to answer the door. She swept in, and we exchanged the usual pleasantries in the usual ways. I introduced her to the kids, who were SO excited to have the tedium of daily life mitigated by a total stranger, and then we sat at the kitchen table for what was to become a 3-hour conversation. She told me about the last 11 years of her life, and I filled her in on mine. What different paths we have had! The funny thing, though, is that though we've taken different paths, we've walked the same road. She married a great, godly man named Adam. They were, at one point, on a church-planting team, but since felt called to do other things. (Incidentally, we are very close to the parents of one of the other couples on the team.) They moved to Oregon, on faith, with only a small job possibility on the horizon. Well, that job worked out, and they are working hard in a church that needed, well, fresh fire. Erin has always been a spark...I know she and Adam will be amazing with that congregation. I say we've walked the same road because for both of us, it's been a sojourn of self-discovery. We both have learned a lot about what it means to be a dynamic christian. What it means to really love the people around you. The pain that happens when you fall short in those areas. We've both missed people we love and have made many strong relationships along the way. Erin (whose last name used to be Rembleski) and I weren't especially close in college. I thought she was way too cool to want to be good friends! She thought I was dating a freak (she was right), and didn't feel much in common with me, probably. It was such a blessing to sit with her and really form, I think, the beginning of our friendship. We had a common history, but now we have a common bond. Thick water, anyone? I'm grateful for my old (and new) friend Erin, and the journey that God has sent us both on. God is good.

Thick, Thick Water

There's one thing I really love about the church. Well, really there's a lot of things, but there's one thing that on my mind right now that I specifically love about the church. This weekend, we were blessed with a surprise overnight visit from our friends Will and Lisa Covill, along with their two children, Timmy and Lily. When we met Will and Lisa, we were stationed in New Bern, North Carolina. (Kenny was in the Marine Corps then.) We were having to drive about an hour to church on Sunday mornings, which was both difficult and sometimes frustrating. This was a lonely period for us...I wasn't sure how to make friends in a town where I didn't go to church! Where do you meet people? I even remember a day when I took the kids to Chic-Fil-A, just to try to meet people!!! Yikes!! (A funny thing...I actually DID end up meeting one of my dear friends in that Chic-Fil-A, but that's another story for another day!! Anyways, this church (in Jacksonville, NC) was not exactly overflowing with young families. Again, this was a lonely time. However, soon after we arrived, Will and Lisa arrived. At the time, they just had Timmy, and Will wasn't a christian yet, and I'd say they were probably struggling to keep coming every week. I THINK the first time we had them over was mostly an outreach effort on our part. Little did we know! We soon became fast friends, getting together often, teaching Dave Ramsey together, basically doing every "churchy" thing together. They helped us build a Sunday school class that helped bring in a lot of other young families. The really became family to us. We had Thanksgiving dinner at least once at their house, and they came to our house for Thanksgiving dinner at least once also. And we didn't really find ourselves pining for family...because they were as close as family. Anyways, time changes everything, and all too soon we found ourselves moving away to Searcy, while they moved away to Pensacola, Florida. (When you're in the military sad goodbyes are a way of life, unfortunately.) We visited Will and Lisa in Pensacola when we were on our way to Disneyworld last November. And now, here they were! We had them all to ourselves!! They came in Saturday afternoon, played boardgames with us Saturday night, and went to church with us (although Kenny had to work instead) on Sunday morning. After church we went to lunch, and then it was time for another goodbye. "What," you ask, "is there to love about the church in this story?" I know, right? What I love is this: With Will and Lisa no time has passed. We just pick right up where we left off. Their kids are our kids, and vice versa. There's no small talk...we just dive right in. We're FAMILY. You know, I've heard the saying all my life that blood runs thicker than water. I just have to disagree with that. There is a water that runs very, very thick. It's the same water that never runs dry. It quenches the soul. You NEVER get thirsty!! And that water is thick, thick water. Thicker than blood. And over the years, God has blessed us with several couples via thick water: Rance and Heather Gregg, Bryan and Angie Burrell, Will and Lisa, Keith and Donna Strickland, Jimmy and Mary Alice Brooks, and Bryan and Sarah Blake, to name a few. This is what church-family relationships are meant to be!! How I wish this would happen with all my relationships!! And my prayer for you is that you will have friendships where time cannot pass. Thick water friendships. Thick water family, really. So, that's what I love about church. Talk to you soon!!

Attack of Flyzilla!

Okay, so we had company last night. (Our good friends Bryan and Sarah were here, whom I'm sure you'll read loads about if you keep up with this blog). We stayed up far too late playing a great new game called Power Grid, which, incidentally, I WON!! I only write that in all caps because Kenny is tremendously difficult to beat at, well, most anything. I have him on the emotional front, but in anything involving logic, he is decidedly superior, although I don't always admit it. So, Bryan and Sarah (and their son, Asher, who is probably Kale's best friend) left late, which was wonderful. I always prefer for company to leave late! So, Kenny, still smarting from the wound of losing, and I headed back to the bedroom to change and go to bed. A fairly normal thing, right? Hold your horses! So, we lay in bed reading our respective books, when we hear this faint buzzing sound. At first, we didn't think much of it...I was too engrossed in Buck Compton's account of Carentan to care about some measley fly. Kenny was too busy reading his latest romance novel. (NO, not really, but I HAD to take that opportunity!) Gradually, the fly gets a little more brave and starts dive-bombing our heads! I just knew he was going to fly down my throat! Aaahhhhkkk! So Kenny, my brave knight-in-boxers, grabs a hand towel, and jumps out of bed to defend me from the fly-monster. (Secretly, I think he was a little unnerved too.) Finally, we see him. He's about a quarter-inch thick and FAST. He's the super-hero of flies. The grand poobah of flies! In our bedroom! I silently wondered if we should be honored by his presence! However, that didn't take away the need for his immediate demise. I mean, in war, all bets are off! Good think I had my former-Marine husband around! So, I'm laying there (keeping my throat closed, in case the next dive-bomb had a target), and Kenny's jumping all over the room in his boxer shorts with a hand towel, trying to kill the intruder. After what seemed like an hour, but was probably more like 10 minutes, he was forced to admit defeat and wave the white flag/hand towel of surrender. It was a sad moment, but I was proud of him for losing to so worthy an opponent. Kenny's a brave man. What did I learn? Kill 'em while they're small! Also, don't sleep with your mouth open...

The WalMart Fiasco

Well, this is my first foray into the blogging world...let's hope it goes well! Today was, well, a challenge. It was, duh da da duh, WalMart Day!! (Collective groan...) So, here I go with three children (at noon, without lunch in our bellies...brilliant!) to WalMart in the sweltering heat. Sheesh! Now, I've learned that the sum total of peace of mind post-WalMart is directly proportionate to the amount of time actually spent in the WalMart facility, regardless of what the time is spent doing. We just got started out badly. First, I needed a bath mat. Well, WalMart used (until yesterday, quite possibly) to carry this really cute frog bathmat. I even had one...wrecked it in the dryer. Our kids bathroom is frog, so that was a great fit. Go figure. Today, however, in WalMart stores across the nation, that bathmat has magically turned into an Octopus bathmat. What?! Who has an octopus bathroom?! So, after about 20 minutes of deliberation, I walked off with a not-quite-right-shade-of-green bathmat. Then, since our kids had (a very little bit of) money to spend, we went to the toy section, where we found, among other things, some very good friends to speak with! Yeah! However, that time still factors in to the time-spent-in-WalMart equation. After an agonizing 20 (okay, maybe it was only 5) minutes spent in decision-making over which Hotwheels car Kale wanted to get, and after finding some weird bubble thingy for Abby to buy with the three dollars she managed to save, we finally go to the food aisle. Yay! To make a long story long, we spent another hour and a half (hungry!) in the food section, trying our best to avoid all things with high-fructose corn syrup, we made it to the checkout counter. Amazingly, there was a check-out lady waiting just for us. It was as if queue 8 was created for us. Everyone just seemed to file out to the other queues to stand in line, just so we could walk right up to the counter. There was even an assistant checker-outer lady who loaded up the cart for me! It was magnificent! Yeah, you can see it coming, can't you? I went to pay for my groceries (having gone $20 over-budget...we were so hungry!!), and to my shock and horror, all I found was...an empty pocket!! Ergo, I grabbed the kids up, all fighting back tears because their hotwheels/weird bubble thingies were staying with the checkout lady, and walked all the way back across town to our car (okay, it only felt like it was across town...we actually had a dazzlingly good parking place.) I found my wallet, which I had left right on the seat in my unlocked car. BRILLIANT! We went back in, paid for our groceries, and ducked out of there!! So, that was our experience for today. What did I learn? Hotwheels that have big wheels on them are extortion. You can actually have a decent visit in the toy aisle of WalMart, assuming your 2-year-old doesn't wonder off. If you forget to pick up the Land O Lakes cheese snacks, it's not worth going back with 3 kids. God knows when you've had enough and will occasionally protect your wallet from it's bone-headed owner. He is good!! (And the kids love the hotwheels!) Talk to you soon!