Thursday Thirteen #9: Things that warm my heart

Thirteen Things that WARM MY HEART 1. The sound of my kiddos snoring (weird, I know, but I just love it!) 2. The sound of my kiddos eating (yes, even the rude noises) 3. The sound of my littlest one going potty (hey, we just got her potty trained. I revel in that sound-it means I'm not changing a diaper!!) 4. The way That Man looks at me like he thinks I'm completely insane but loves me anyway. 5. When I'm really sick, The Dog seems to know it and he'll come and rest his head in my lap, then look at me with those big eyes. 6. At the writing conference I was at, this whole family was there, all together, and you could just tell they all were very close. I want that for my family. 7. Old people who still appear to be madly in love and walk around the grocery store holding hands. 8. Listening to my little ones pray. 9. When my kiddos say or do something that makes me realize that they actually are learning the lessons I teach them about life. 10. Listening to B read. 11. When my kiddos spontaneously give me hugs, kisses, or boisterously say, "I love you Mommy!" 12. Hearing That Man talk about how proud he is of me. 13. Having That Man pray for me.

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Yeah yeah yeah... I know

It's been a while. But give me a break, I'm tired. The good news is that my house is clean. I just sit and enjoy how lovely my clean house is. Did I mention my house is clean?

But I'm tired!

Thursday Thirteen #8: Cool things from today

ThirteenCool things from today 1. The view from my room. Gotta love it! 2. Getting a phone call with VERY good news from my doctor about a health issue I'm dealing with. 3. Meeting people in the nonfiction clinic who LOVE my book. 4. Hearing from the editor that so far, it doesn't suck (but we're doing more tomorrow). 5. Having Anne pray for me in the noisy cafeteria and really feeling God's presence in the midst of everything. 6. Seeing more elk. 7. Hugging Chip. 8. Caleb, an old friend I haven't seen in ages, is here and I got to hug him. 9. Meeting my roommate, Becky, (who was a stranger and I have stranger anxiety) and finding out she's not a crackhead. (Actually, it was last night, but it was very late, so I'm counting it) 10. Finding out that I'm not alone in a major struggle I'm having. 11. Eating three square meals that I didn't cook. 12. Connecting with someone who writes nonfiction like mine who admires my work (whose work I admire) and making plans to get together. 13. I stayed in bed all morning!! Except to go to breakfast. Can't miss a meal I didn't have to cook.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Refocusing

Today I left for the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. One of the things I volunteered for was picking up folks at the airport. Which was an exercise in frustration. All the lots were full, and so I went to the exit to find out where I could park, and the attendant charged me! I paid to NOT park! I was so mad. I let out a string of bad words I haven't said in a long time and this poor attendant looked at me and said, "You still have to pay."

I ended up finding another parking area and parked. Of course, my mean treatment of this guy bit me real quick. Some guy was stuck at the gate and he decided to take the opportunity to yell at me and curse me because apparently, the gate not working was somehow my fault (not).

Sometimes we do and say things that we regret. I felt bad the minute I left the parking area. So, to the guy at the parking area I yelled at, even though I know he was just following the rules, I'm sorry you had to deal with my temper. I'd been keeping it in check, but the stress of everything in my life just built up and unfortunately, I let it out on you. That's no excuse, and I'm sorry.

Today ended up being a day where a lot of things went wrong. But you know, I spent so much time focusing on them that I failed to see a lot of the good things.

So, because I obviously need an attitude adjustment and I need to refocus, I want to share the best thing that happened to me today. We're up in the mountains at a beautiful retreat center. Wildlife are everywhere. As I pulled in to the conference center, a group of elk stood in the road. I stopped and waited. They just stood, looking at the cars. I sat, looking at them. One of them, a little male with just little horn nubs, came right up to my car. He sniffed my hood and wasn't impressed. But he wanted a closer look, so he came right up to my driver's side window and sniffed there. We stared at each other for a few seconds. It was the coolest moment ever. Almost as though God was using one of His other creatures to say, "Hey," taking a moment to glimpse into my life and remind me to slow down and take notice of all the wonders around me.

I only wish I'd taken a picture.

Subtle Lessons

I baked blueberry muffins today. One of the things I'm learning to appreciate (and fear) about my little ones is how much they watch and mimic me. I decided to bake muffins, and as soon as the baby saw what I was doing, she grabbed her chair, dragged it over to the counter, and stood right beside me. She wanted to help with everything, to do everything I did. She informed me, "I the mom. You the B." So we baked muffins.

Later, as I tried to have a moment of privacy in the bathroom, she came storming in. For the first time, I realized that even my moments on the toilet were watched with careful eyes. I made sure I took only a little bit of toilet paper, as I've been trying to teach her since the Great Mother's Day Flood. And, as we often do during the moments I wish most to have to myself, we engaged in deep conversation. When K grows up, she wants to be a mommy. She's going to have a brother and a sister and she's going to buy them Dora toothbrushes, like she has. I thought it was interesting that she wanted a boy and a girl, rather than the two girls I have. As much as she tries to duplicate me, she still puts her own unique stamp on the project.

Her big sister and I often have similar conversations, but they usually begin with, "Did YOU do that when you were a kid?" If I say yes, she'll tell me, "Good. Then I'll make sure I do that with my kids." She's already starting to take notes on what she is going to do as a mother. A daunting fact.

I've always been an intentional parent. I don't like the philosophy of many, who do the best they can and just hope their kids grow up okay. I don't want to hope. I want to do everything in my power to equip them for the life ahead.

Tonight, as I typed up the list of instructions and arrangements I've made for the kids while I'm away at a writer's conference, I realized another important, but subtle lesson my husband and I are teaching our kids. We're teaching them about working together as a team to achieve dreams. We've spent a lot of money to help me acheive my writing goals. Yet, no matter what I ask my husband for, as long as it is to pursue my dream, he always says yes. Even if it means sacrificing other things. There will be a few moms who look down their noses at me because I'm missing field day and that I have the temerity to spend a few nights away from home. B even said to me, "Mom, why do you have to go away for so long?"

I have to go away because I have to be strong for my girls. I have to show them that it's good for mommies to have dreams and that part of being a family is supporting mommy (and everyone else in the family) as she chases her dream. For many generations, it wasn't okay for mommies to have dreams other than being a mommy. And if the only thing I was allowed to do was be a mommy, that would be okay. Because of all the things I do with my life, being a mommy is my favorite. My girls know they are important to me. They know I love them with all my heart. But they also know that I have goals and dreams, and I have the courage to follow them. Not just for my sake, but for theirs.

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a very sweet story all typed out, and then my browser crashed and I lost it. Yes, I know. Do it first in Word. Someday. Sigh. Someday.

Anyway, I don't have the patience to do it over, but I did want to say mine was good, and I wish all of you a happy day as well.

***
I have no idea how this happened, but this post magically showed up when I was browsing again. How weird. So now you can see what you lost!

This was the first Mother's Day not organized by Daddy. B, being a woman of the world at six, spent a good part of Friday afternoon informing me what was supposed to happen on Mother's Day and what her daughterly duties were.

Today, they woke me up with breakfast in bed. Personally, I'd have preferred IHOP because I was craving stuffed french toast, but according to B, children are supposed to make breakfast for the mom on this occasion. They made pancakes (and we have about a hundred left, if anyone wants one), sausage, croissants, and orange juice. I thought she was going to kill That Man for making cranberry juice. Breakfast, you know, requires OJ. So he also made OJ to appease her. Once that kid gets something stuck in her head, it becomes law.

Everything she did today was because of Mother's Day. When I asked her to pick up her dirty clothes, she said, "Oh, because it's Mother's Day." No, because you're just supposed to pick up your dirty clothes! However, I did get them in the spirit of getting the house ready to sell, so they cleaned the bathroom (sort of) and washed the entryway floor. They love to squirt the spray bottles of stuff to clean things, so even though I have yet to figure out how to get them to pick up their toys without dire threats, they will clean things with great joy.

Hubby began painting our house today. There was so much icky stuff with the exterior that we really needed to do something to make it look nicer. I'm watching all the house shows on HGTV right now so I can make sure our house is at its very best for when we put it on the market next month.

I forgot where I was going with that, but that's a good end to the day. The real end involved toilet overflowing and flooding the upstairs AND downstairs, but we'll pretend I didn't just spend the entire day washing towels so I could use them to mop up toilet water.

Happy Birthday to my little Koo Koo

Three years ago today, I gave birth to a terrorist disguised as an angel. Little did I know that her ambition was to one day, take over the world. Of course, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. ;) All I know is that the world would not be as bright of a place without her sweet smile and contagious laugh. At three, she is kind, compassionate, loving, and has a tendency to destroy anything and everything in her path. She is a fashionista who loves chocolate, babies, and shoes. Especially shoes.



Her current idea of high fashion is the lovely ensemble you see in today's birthday nose buttering shot. Bathing suit (I cannot get her out of them!), mesh coverup (which she wears over EVERYTHING), Lei (because it's a pretty-we must have pretties at all times!), and hot pink cowgirl boots (not pictured). Actually, I'm not 100% she had the boots on, but they usually are worn with this get-up. The fits I deal with if she's not able to wear her boots with her bathing suit. The bathing suit she's sporting today is a Dora bathing suit, because she's been informing me since December, before they were even in stores, that she HAD to have a Dora bathing suit. Also note the chocolate stains around the mouth. In her hand, she has a spoonful of sour cream, which she calls "Ha-Keem!".

For weeks now, when you ask her how old she's going to be, she's been saying, "Sixteen." Eventually, you can talk her down to five, but she's still not accepting that she's really only three. Ah, my little princess. What would I do without you?

Happy, happy birthday, my sweet little girl. (Who asked me to put down my computer so I could hold her, then curled up and fell asleep in my arms tonight. This is the best job EVER!)

Ode to Chip MacGregor on the Anniversary of His Birth

I posted this on the site of my beloved Chip. For his birthday, he's holding a really bad poetry contest, and well, since I do pride myself on my really bad poetry, I had to share.

Ode to Chip MacGregor on the Anniversary of His Birth

That Chip MacGregor, the man can sing.
Were we not already otherwise wed, I'd offer him a ring.
I first met him, singing his ditty.
I tried to think of something to say to him that would be witty.
With a smile, I asked, "who might you be?"
"Why, I'm Chip MacGregor, can't you see?"

To the strain of amazing grace sung by a beautiful girl,
I thought I'd give eye-opening a whirl.
"No," said I-"tell me, what do you do?"
"I'm a big shot publisher, how about you?"
"I'm Danica, not the race car driver."
"Pity. For that, I'd give a fiver."

Not really, but it sounded good.
And you laughed, as I knew you would.
We joked and had fun
But alas, the evening was done.
In my green chariot we did leave.
When I dropped him off, we ran into a Baldwin named Steve.

We chatted for a while then he wanted to sleep.
Our parting came, but I did not weep.
As Scarlett O'Hara said, tomorrow is another day.
Because the MacGregors and McDonalds are cousins, I found a way
To see him again, I did.
At our previous antics, we giggled like a kid.
From scary agents I saved him.
Otherwise his life would have been grim.

Then from Denver he departed.
This next line begs the word, "farted"
But I'm sure it doesn't meet the CBA rule.
I guess I should go back to school
To learn how to write and read
According to industry need.

The next event in this epic tale
Was a whopper I was sure had to be a whale.
A friend put a bug in my ear
That Chip's end as publisher was near.
An Agent! That foul form of beast.
He could have warned me at least.

That the evil scourge I had saved him from
Was the exact creature he was going to become.
However, he was my cousin, my friend.
Despite his change in career, I'd stay with him to the end.
Who else would liven up the loop?
Especially following posts that make my eyelids droop.

Chip MacGregor, the man is terriby funny.
And to say that, he paid me no money.
Which is why my greatest hope
For a man who never lets me mope
That on the anniversary of his birth
I would craft a poem very much worth
A reaction that could only be called vomit.
With such terrible writing, I'm sure I can count on it.

Thursday Thirteen #7: Things I was going to TT about, but didn't

Thirteen Things I almost posted and didn't (and why!) 1. Crack: People who need to stop smoking it (If I named names, some people might be offended) 2. My Dog and why I love him. (My husband might get jealous) 3. Reasons why people need to use birth control (Apparently, this offends some people) 4. Why laws protecting people from their own stupidity should be outlawed (again on the not offending people) 5. Car and Driver: What your vehicle says about your personality (I couldn't think of 13-just a couple. We'll save that for another day) 6. My favorite methods of execution and torture (This one might make people question my mental state) 7. Things I love about my children (I ALWAYS Blog about them-BORING) 8. Weird noises my family members make (This is a little on the gross side) 9. Things you don't want to hear in the ER (sadly, I ended up hearing most of them and don't want to think about it) 10. Things in my house that need cleaning (way more than thirteen... terribly depressing) 11. Things on my to-do list (didn't I do this one already? Besides, again, we have way more than thirteen and it's way too depressing) 12. Weird but sick hobbies I enjoy (Again with the mental state thing, totally not in the mood for someone with a white coat to pay me a visit) 13. Things I wished I'd thought of, but didn't. (Well, if I'd thought of them, I could have listed them) Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Things that make me vomit

We'll forget that I'm on medication that makes me vomit.

Yes, I am talking about the return of my beloved Veronica Mars.

The Veronica/Piss thing is really irritating. I can't believe I had to watch the replay of them kissing. Then, her indecision thing... ICK. Allow me to explain my position, since the writers of VM apparently do not understand. Piz=Piss. Piss=the foul waste that comes out of your body. Veronica does not belong wallowing in piss. Veronica belongs with Logan. While I think my beloved Rob Thomas is one of the most brilliant plotmasters on the planet, he apparently does not understand romance.

I did, however, enjoy the re-introduction of Deputy Leo. Even though Veronica does NOT need another romantic quagmire, I really like this character. Maybe we'll hook him up with Parker and then Logan and Veronica can FINALLY get back together. After we kill off Piss. Seriously, the guy has got to go. He has irritated me from day one. Actually, Parker irritates me too. Maybe she and Piss can drive off a cliff or something. So we need a nice girl for Deputy Leo. NOT Veronica.

Have I mentioned that Veronica and Logan belong together and I will not accept any other resolution?

It's going to be okay

My best friend and I were talking the other night, and she's worried about her son entering high school. He's in with a weird crowd and doing some crazy things. As we talked, I told her she needs to keep praying and let God work.

Of the things I've learned lately, it's that everything is going to be okay. Yes, her son is doing some weird things. But as much as she talks to him and tries to get him over to her way of thinking, ultimately, he's going to choose what he's going to choose.

A few years ago, we were really worried about some of the bad choices DSS was making. Usual teen stuff, but still things to be worried about. We spent a lot of time in prayer-still do-and he's been able to make some positive changes in his life. We're really pleased with the direction he's taking.

I don't credit it to anything we did or said, except the prayers. Our kids are covered in prayer. Maybe they'll do the right thing, maybe they'll do the wrong thing. But I know that in everything they do, God's hand is on them.

Over the weekend, I had to deal with a really rough health situation. I've had some great pray-ers covering the whole situation. I knew God was in control. I did not get the answer I wanted. And yet, in the midst of all this, even though it's not what I want, I am content. The thing I learned is that God sometimes uses a series of bad events to bring about something really good. Oh wait. Duh. That happens a lot in the Bible, doesn't it?

Sometimes we find ourselves in the midst of some really tough situations. Especially when those situations have so many elements that you have no control over. We rely on all sorts of things to get us through, to protect us, to save us, to make it right, but ultimately, the only real thing to rely on is God. Throughout the weekend, the verse that kept going through my head over and over is Psalm 20:7 "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."

If you are trusting in the Lord, no matter where you are, or what you're going through, it's going to be okay.

Because some people need a new hobby...

Sorry, I've been saying that a lot, especially tonight, and had to use it again. Anyway, Jessica tagged me because she is curious as to the contents of my purse. Nothing exciting, I can assure you.

The examination of my purse definitely illustrated the need to clean it out. Ugh. I haven't gotten to that post-tax season project. Oh well, I'll just add it to the list.


Here it is: My lovely Ann Taylor Loft purse. I adore Ann Taylor. Sadly, it's not often in the budget.


The trash in my purse. Not all of it is trash. I have to sort it. Of note is promotional material for the job, grocery store receipts, wedding favors, school programs, church programs, phone messages, pay stubs, envelopes from pay check, and activity reports from work. Exciting stuff.



Ahhh... here we are... the goods. The mystery of what this particular woman keeps in her purse. Men, take note. This is a sacred shrine few every get the opportunity to view. Moving clockwise from the top, we have... index cards. Doesn't everyone keep index cards in their purse? In my case, I had grand visions of using them to memorize Scripture, and while I do occasionally look at them, well, it's more off than on. The dark brown thing with stuff sticking out of it is my wallet. The stuff sticking out are checkbooks. I just finished out one checkbook and am on a new one, but am carrying the old one until those checks clear. On top of the wallet is a scrunchie. A must have for people with lots of hair. Next to the wallet is my planner (mostly covered by my journal). You can see papers sticking out of it-it's got a neat feature-those little black things are semi sticky, so you can keep invitations and things right handy. In the middle, you see a pretty book with flowers. Okay, so I'm not going exactly clockwise, but you know what? It's my blog, doing it this way makes sense to me, so there. Anyway. That pretty book is my journal. If you look closely, it even says journal on it. Mostly, it's a lot of notes-sermon notes, notes to myself, story notes, phone numbers, thoughts, anything I need to write. I even have a few pages I let the kiddos draw on to keep them occupied when I had no other alternative. Also notice that the journal is spiral bound. This is very important. I must have lined, spiral bound, pretty journals. I've had this one since Sept. 2006. It's almost time for a new one. Also, notice that in the spiral of the journal is a pen. Part of why I need a spiral is to hold the pen. That way, I can always find it. I'm a genius, I tell you, genius. On top of the journal is my purse Bible. I used to get irritated because I wanted a Bible and didn't have one handy, so I invested in this little beauty. It's an ESV, which is an easy to read version. This is my only ESV Bible, so I use it a lot to compare with my other versions. On top of the Bible is my daughter's glove. She gave it to me a while back, and there was a really cute reason why she wanted me to have it. I forget the story, so now I just have the glove. Also on the Bible is a granola bar. I often get super busy and forget to eat until I'm nearly sick with hunger. Always carrying some form of sustenance helps cure that. But who am I kidding? I'm a mother to a pack of vultures, so they usually eat it before I get to it. Next is my phone. Enough said.

The clear plastic bag next to it is my drug bag. Again, probably pointless that I have it, but I guess it makes me feel better. The little blue thing in it is a coin purse that I use to carry loose pills like Tylenol. The medicine bottle is my migraine medicine. The pink thing overlapping my migraine meds is lip gloss. Above it is a white thing-that's my allergy nasal spray. Next to the lip glass is a tampon. Self explanatory, I'm sure. On top of the tampon is a packet of vitamins. Below the vitamins, I have a blue mechanical pencil and a pen. Underneath that, though you can't see it, are my allergy eye drops.

So why is my drug bag pointless? Well, because of my herd of terrorists. My pill bag is usually empty because the baby likes to get into it. Migraine meds, I have them, but they make me loopy so I only take them when at home or if hubby's driving. Allergy nasal spray. I pay fifty bucks for that stuff, and the other day, while I was in the shower, baby dumped it out all over the table and was tracing patterns with her fingers in it. Lip gloss. Everything inside the bag is slimy because the baby, thinking she was smart about sneaking my lip gloss, took it, used it, didn't close it tightly enough, and it leaked. Tampon. I have to replace them faster than I can use them because the baby likes to hand them out as party favors. If she's in my purse, I can guarantee she's into my tampons and is handing them out to someone. Vitamins. HA! I don't know why I have them. I always intend to take them, but never get around to it. Pencil and Pen. Actually useful. I put them there so I always have one handy, but I usually forget they're there. Eye drops. See note on nasal spray.

OH! I should have looked through it before describing it. On the side facing the ground, I also have a single serving of crystal light drink mix (for when I'm bored with my usual plain water), medicated lip balm, and clear lip gloss.

Missing from the purse picture is my camera (because I was using it) and a bottle of water (because I'd just finished it).

So there you have it. All you ever wanted to know about my purse and then some.