The laundry

fairy

STILL

hasn't

shown up...

:-(

THINGS I'D LIKE TO DO TOMORROW

Sleep late...go out for breakfast...get a pedicure...start book #3...discover that the laundry fairy put all the clean clothes away...talk a walk...on the beach!...watch (another) Matthew McConaughey movie...visit Zac or Tyler or Bryan...go to GapKids...visit a SuperTarget with an escalator to the 4th floor (thanks, Hannah!)...finish the Disney scrapbook...eat a cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera...with the cream cheese spread...

What will I do tomorrow???
Sleep late...cook breakfast...maybe watch a movie...grade the five sets of reading & English tests I brought home...go to the Gathering...go to bed...start another week...

It's a vicious cycle...vicious, I tell you! ;-)

A Little Goes a Long Way...

With approximately $90 worth of steak, chicken, rice, and vegetables from Hibachi, you can...

• Feed six teenagers before a homecoming dance


• Feed two parents who are hosting the dinner


• Make chicken-fried rice for a family of three


• Make a mean steak & cheese sandwich for a hungry carpenter


• Make one Jack Russell terrier very happy!

Lessons from a Soccer Mom

Today was our first real soccer game of the season. Let's just say it was a TRAINWRECK! Our team of 4th and 5th graders - some of whom have never played soccer before this year - was put up against a team of 6th & 7th graders who have supposedly played together since they were 3!! The "white team" had their stuff together. They knew their positions, played with strategy, and had superb teamwork. It was obvious they had been well-coached, and knew their game. The "red team" never stood a chance. I felt so bad for them. I've been thrown into situations before where I knew I was in over my head, where it was obvious I was unqualifed for the task. I know the discomfort and humiliation that follow.

This got me thinking...have I done enough "coaching" with my own girls? Have I taught them the skills they need to know for real life? Have I taught them "strategies" for living out there in the real world? I don't want my girls to just sit on the side lines and watch life pass them by. I want them in the game, living life to its fullest. But I want them to be prepared for whatever life throws their way. To quote the coach from the movie We Are Marshall, I want my girls to be ready to "play to the whistle." I think I've got some more coaching to do...

HIS Perfect Timing

On a day otherwise marked with sorrow, HE sent me a ray of sunshine. After spending days trying to wrap my brain around a tragic situation, HE gave me hope. Today, my friends Amy Lynn & Daniel are at the hospital, anxiously awaiting the birth of their first baby boy. That only puts a smile on my face. I remember very well the joy, elation, excitement, and yes - fear - that they, too, are experiencing. No tears there. Just hope and joy! Congratulations, Amy Lynn & Daniel - can't wait to meet your baby boy!

Sad

I am sad today. I am emotionally spent. Drained. The friend that I referred to in my previous post will never have the opportunity to put the pieces of her "fairy tale" life back together again. She will never get to try to "work things out." They found her husband yesterday. He had taken his life. And left behind a beautiful wife, two daughters, and a son.

My relationship with this family goes back about 12 years. When Cassie started kindergarten, their oldest daughter was the first friend she made. And they have remained close through all these years, through the ebb and flows of friendship, they still call out to each other when one is in need. She and I were pregnant at the same time with our youngest children. I taught the middle child several years ago, and am teaching the youngest child now. While I can not say that I have ever been especially close with this friend, she was always someone to turn to for daughterly advice, someone to count on for help at school, or with social plans for our girls.

This just makes me sad. How desperate must someone get to see no way out? To feel no hope for forgiveness? To see this as the best option for their family? How can you choose to leave your kids without a father? I don't how to help with this heartache. All I know to do is to say that I will forgive. I will not stand in judgement. I will not condemn. I will love. That's all I know to do for this family right now - to love. I loved on sad children all day long. Every hug, every "Will you pray with me, Mrs. Nobles?", every sad face was precious to me. I'd like the chance to love on you, too, if you need it. Or maybe even if you don't. And someday, I may need you to love on me too. After all, isn't that what Jesus would do?

Please pray for my friend, her family, and all of their friends who are hurting and loving on them.

No, I'm not depressed...REALLY!

I hope that when you look at me, you think of words like... confused... disheveled... out-of-style... not well-spoken... lonely... tired... struggling... indecisive... selfish... annoying... inconsistent... forgetful... unmotivated...

Because all of those words can describe some aspect of my life. (And no, I am not on, or do not need, any prescription medications.) I'm not feeling sorry for myself, at all. I'm basically a happy person right now. I'm probably more at peace with my life, and with who I am, than I have been at any other time. CONTENT truly describes me at this stage of my life. But I hope that no one looks at me, and sees a facade. I want to be more transparent than that. Next time you ask me how I'm doing, I'm not going to reply with "good" if it's not the truth. I'm not going to smile when I feel like crying. I do have problems that I'm not sure how to solve, I do lose my temper, I do lose things never to find them again, I do try on three outfits and then say that I have nothing to wear, I do say things that I regret. I do not live a fairy tale life, and I hope that no one would ever think that I do. I live in the real world, surrounded by the same issues, temptations, and lies as the next person. (And...as an added plus, I'm surrounded by children all day long!!!)

I've seen too many "fairy-tale" lives fall apart recently. I've seen too many people lately who seem to "have it all" lose it in an instant. I don't want to be one of those people. I'll share my trash with you, and I want you to share yours with me. I want to have REAL friends, who'll tell me if something is stuck in my teeth, or if my butt looks big in those jeans, or if I'm being utterly and ridiculously wrong about something. And I'd like to be that same kind of friend to you. I'm through striving for perfection. It only wears me down. So here I am, flaws and all, (do you hear the sigh of relief?) and I'm loving it!!!

My friend needs your prayers. This week, my friend's "fairy-tale" life was turned upside down in one day, probably in one conversation. ("Fairy-tale" being my own perception, not my friend's description.) My heart is broken for my friend. I can't go to sleep for thinking about my friend. So, if I've misspelled words, or typed a sentence that makes no sense, go ahead and laugh at me. I won't get my feelings hurt. And, tomorrow, when I have bags under my eyes, and can't remember what I'm supposed to be doing, don't feel sorry for me, just say a prayer for my friend. My contented life, with all its flaws, will continue as usual. My friend, however, has to figure out how to put a life back together again.

Keeping it real, one day at a time...
Love, Amy

WHY???

Yesterday, I went to a wedding for a co-worker. It took place on a golf course, and was nice for an outdoor wedding in early September in south Georgia (in other words...it was HOT!) During the reception, I was looking around watching all the guests eat cake, and began to wonder...why do you have two cakes at a wedding? You spend all this money on THE cake, and then have to have a groom's cake, too. Why? Does the groom really care so much that he has to have his own cake? I would think not. How did this tradition get started? What is the significance?

And yes, we did have two cakes at our wedding. Clint had a chocolate armadillo cake...anyone watch Steel Magnolias???

Drum: Ouiser, can we call a truce long enough for me to get a piece of cake?
[Ouiser slices him the tail piece of an armadillo cake.]
Drum: Thanks Ouiser, nothing like a good piece of ***!

WALLY-WORLD

Let me preface this post by saying that I love to shop! I find shopping to be quite therapeutic, and can get quite giddy over a trip to Target. However, grocery shopping never falls into the shopping therapy category. Well, for a number of reasons, I haven't had the opportunity to do much shopping since about a week before school started. We were way past overdue for a real grocery store trip, and I knew it would be a "2-cart-er." Since Clint was at work, I forced Cassie to go with me. As hard as it is to believe, I was actually EXCITED about going to Wal-Mart...at lunchtime...on Saturday...before a holiday...and after a payday for many. (That's sad!!!) Even after the rain, the crowd, the long checkout line, and the outrageous total, I still had a smile on my face as we hauled bag after bag after bag up the steps and into the kitchen. It probably took the two of us thirty minutes to put everything away. And now I'm still smiling because my pantry is full - anybody want to come for dinner???

PRAYER FOR BERNICE

Clint's grandmother was put into the hospital this weekend, after an apparent heart attack. They were unable to put in a stint because of the location of the blockage. Surgery is a possibility, but is somewhat risky because she is 80 years old and because of some other factors. She is quite a spunky lady - she told the surgeon she would just "flip a coin" to decide what to do. :-) Please pray for wisdom for Bernice, and her children as they decide what route to take.