Approaching the big 1-0

On Wednesday, my baby turns 10. That means forever saying goodbye to her single digit years, and saying a very hesitant hello to double digits and all the "wonderful" things that double digits bring. Thankfully, I have already done this before with Faith. I know what to expect. I know what I am saying "goodbye" to. (Maybe that is what makes me so hesistant.)

I am a reflective person. I wish I wasn't, but I can't help myself. So, in anticipation of this milestone, I have been reflecting lately on what I was doing 10 years ago at this time.....what I looked like, how big I was, etc. Ten years ago at this time, I was:

1)suffering from pneumonia,

2)trying to chase around a curly, blond haired, Barney loving, two year old,

3)listening to Hillary defended Bill's activities with Monica and the whole "Right Wing Conspiracy" theory.

4) scared to death about having a second c-section

5) believing whole-heartedly that this sweet gift from God I was carrying was certainly a boy.

Well, thankfully, God brings healing to the body and the pneumonia went away. And the Barney loving two year old is now 12 and in love with "Webkinz." Hillary is back in the picture.....who would have guessed, running for president!! My fear of c-sections is long gone. And the sweet gift from God that I have been incredibly blessed with in my life is a beautiful strawberry blond, absorbed in books, laughter filled girl......who just recently went from calling me "Momma" to "Mudder".....emphasis on the "der." Oh, how much I love her!!!!! Thank you, God!!! You are so good!!!

Target Temptation

A few friends, my sister, and myself included have serious Target issues....and we don't want help for it either. We joyfully discuss the "science" of end cap perusal, our various clearance strategies, and the latest and greatest in the Dollar section. Right now, we all have our eye on the Global Bazaar stuff (Target's annual tribute to things Pier-1-ish) and are waiting "impatiently" for the first glimpse of our favorite red clearance sign to make its appearance. No such sighting yet.

If you too have Target issues, you might enjoy checking out this blog....not as much as you enjoy my blog, of course. But you might find comfort in knowing you are not alone in your "suffering."

http://www.slavetotarget.blogspot.com/

The Love Boat

The Love Boat...soon will be making another run!

My husband always teases me as he insists, based on my "useless knowledge" of tv trivia, that all my childhood was spent watching television when I was young. But who didn't watch The Love Boat in the 70's? Every Saturday night, we would sit and live vicariously through the "glamourous" lives of Gopher, Julie, Doc, Isaac, and Captain Stubing. I found it intriguing how quickly they were able to connect with their passengers as if they had been friends all their lives. The following week, they were ready to start the process all over again, making room in their hearts for even more eccentric people.



No one could say watching The Love Boat was a waste of time for children. Well, they could, but they wouldn't dare. I learned Spanish from Charo ("Cuchi-Cuchi"), Geography from all their ports of call (i.e. Puerto Vallarta), Psychology from Dr. Joyce Brothers, and the importance of following your political aspirations from Gopher and Sonny Bono. All in all, I would say that I got a well rounded education. :)



On March 4, "love won't hurt anymore" because the first season of The Love Boat comes out on DVD. Personally, I think they should have had it come out around Valentine's Day, making "love......exciting and new."

It's all in a name...a nametag, that is.

You may remember me telling you a few blogs back about a guy from New York, AJ Jacobs, who did a year-long "experiment" of sorts with the Bible, and then wrote about it in "The Year of Living Biblically." Well, now I am in the beginning stages of learning about another experimenter by the name of Scott Ginsberg (hails from Oregon) who wears a name tag all the time, every day, every where he goes. Here is what led him to do so:

"I am merely a man whose goal in life is to be friendly to everyone, to break down walls of social trepidation, and spread sheer joy that can be found through interpersonal interaction. To put it in better terms, I wish to invite everyone to sit on my "front porch" to help enhance our society's level of communication. And my individual method of accomplishing this goal is carried out by one simple, consistent act: wearing a name tag. What would happen if I wore a name tag all the time? I predicted people's reactions to wearing a name tag would be pretty interesting. What I did not predict, however, was that wearing a name tag would eventually change my entire life. "

I am really interested to see where this name tag wearing takes him. I was sharing this story with Gregg this morning. He countered by saying, "I wear a name tag every day and I don't think people are any friendlier to me, any more open to having a conversation with me." I pondered what he said for a moment, then I remembered what his name tag is attached to.....his beloved flight suit. I told him I think the flight suit creates a barrier with people. They automatically think "Top Gun" which leads them to Tom Cruise....which leads them to Scientology. Then they get scared and clam up. There! That solves that dilemma.

PS- At NewLife, we take 3 Sundays a year and "tag" people.....that is give everyone a name tag. And strangely enough, there seems to be a noticeable difference those Sundays. Everything seems smaller, more intimate, there is more willingness to smile and even engage in eye contact. There are fewer social barriers those Sundays. It is pretty exciting to experience. Some people have suggested that we do it every Sunday. I just don't know how I feel about that. But for now, I really enjoy the climate that having name tags creates on those special Sundays when we "tag" everybody.

Get down on your knees and pray UPDATE

Today, I had the honor and pleasure of talking with Jessica, the pregnant mom of two, who lost her home completely to a fire last week. (See earlier blog) She and her husband are doing as well as can be expected, have found a rental home, and plan on rebuilding their house as soon as they can. Her little ones lack for nothing at the moment (her words), and the only thing she is in need of now is maternity clothes, SIZE M. (She is four months along.) Do you know of anyone who has recently had a baby who would be glad to see their maternity clothes once again put to good use?

Sesame Street's Alligator King- one of my favorites!

Can you tell me how to get to "Old School" Sesame Street?

I really enjoy anything with the word "vintage" in front of it. I love vintage Christmas decorations, the Vintage Attic (my fav antique store in Lithopolis), the look of vintage jewelry, vintage cars (would like to have one some day), the sound of vintage music from the 60's and 70's, and most importantly, my vintage husband (does 16 yrs. of wedded bliss count for being vintage?). So, I was pretty excited when I heard that vintage Sesame Street was coming out on DVD to tame my nostalgic soul. Sesame Street: Old School Volume 1 (1969-1974) highlights the first 5 seasons of the revolutionary Children's show, and allows viewers once again to enjoy segments like Rubber Duckie, Bein' Green, and lovable Oscar the Grouch's "I love trash."

This really takes me back. I can remember getting an Ernie hand puppet when I was four, a Fisher Price Sesame Street Play set when I was 6, and I loved listening to my two Sesame Street Albums complete with the song I've got two eyes... one, two. I felt like Gordon, Susan, Maria, Bob, and Mr. Hooper were some of my closest friends, along with the neighbor boy, Cory, of course. There was nothing like it on TV at the time, and I can still recall many of the "ditties" that made the show fun. But apparently this was not a healthy thing for me and so many other preschoolers "back in the day" to be watching because Sesame Street: Old School comes with a warning.....and a serious one at that. It says: Sesame Street: Old School is for adults only and it may not suit the needs of today's preschool child." It seems that the producers of the show, in reviewing all the old footage, felt that much of the show's persona was too negative and had too many elements in it that are now politically incorrect. Take note:

• Cookie Monster's insatiable need for cookies could lead to diabetes, not to mention his "Alistar Cookie" character smoking a pipe encouraging early smoking of cigarettes.
• Oscar the Grouch's chronically moody and just down right mean personality could lead to outrageous demonstrations of anger and "pack-rat-ism" in one's life.
• Snuffleupagus's early friendship with Big Bird was only seen by the Big Bird himself. No one else knew nor ever saw who Snuffy was except for Big Bird. This could be interpreted as encouraging "hallucinations" and thus lead to early drug use.

WOW!! I don't even know what to say. Finally, an explanation to why I regret much of what I did during my teenage years!!!! Now I know! It's because my mom allowed me to watch Sesame Street when I was little. How could she? What was she thinking? Didn't she love me? How will I get over this new found revelation? Someone have the number of a good counselor? Maybe Lucy's Psychiatric Help (for 5 cents) is available. But I guess it is only a matter of time before Charlie Brown and the gang are now found to be "politically incorrect." In the infamous words of Mr. Brown himself, all I can say is, "Good grief!!"

National Champs...Two Days and counting.......

My husband graduated from Iowa State in 91, but since moving to Ohio, I think he has lost his allegiance to his Alma mater somewhere along the line. He has become such a huge Buckeye fan, if you were to ask him where he graduated from, he might mistakenly say "Ohio State" instead. He's got the Buckeye pajama bottoms, hoodies, turtle necks, and various baseball hats to prove it. All he is missing is the grey sweater vest. Can someone please help him complete the set? What is a true Buckeye fan without the vest?

GO BUCKS!!!!!!

Bright light.....dirty house

The winter can be depressing for some of us who really thrive on sunlight. But I've got to say that I wish I could turn down the sun a little bit today. The brightness, coupled with all the beautiful white snow on the ground, shines a light into my house that would put the "White Glove Test" to shame. My kitchen apparently needs a complete cleaning makeover and I just "cleaned" it yesterday. Smudgy cabinet doors, dusty crumb-ridden floors, dirty counter tops.......UGH!!!! I had absolutely no idea we were that messy.

Gets me thinking about how messy my heart truly is while I am walking around believing I am spiritually "clean." God's brightness (i.e. His Holiness) is a incredible tool in spotlighting all those areas in my life that are in need of some hard core cleaning.

Get down on your knees and pray

It is not uncommon for us to often hear sirens where we live. Since moving here over 6 years ago, we have had at least 5 accidents at the corner of our road alone, one being fatal. We live just a stone's throw from a State Route, known for its twists, turns, and many accidents. So, when the sirens began this morning just before 7am, I didn't think much of it. I mentally made note of the fact that the roads were probably iced over, and someone was driving too fast for conditions. But the sirens kept coming, in 5 minute intervals, one right after another. I looked out my window to watch what seemed like the 6th fire truck go whizzing by. I tried to envision where a car accident of this magnitude, warranting this many fire trucks, might be. After the 8th set of sirens went by, I went into Faith's room, where I found her awake....drawing something while laying in bed. I asked her if she heard all the sirens, and I could tell she was concerned too.

We have tried to make it a practice to pray when we hear sirens. Sounds of sirens never mean anything good, unless you are at a parade. I think it is important to lift people up in prayer, especially during those times. ( I have been in an ambulance when I had Faith, and I am confident that someone was praying for me right then.) So, Faith and I prayed together for this unknown situation, and hoped it wasn't as bad as what we were envisioning. The Internet is an amazing tool, because within a half hour, we were able to learn what was happening just down the road from us. A house burned down completely, with a pregnant woman and her two children escaping safely. A man on his way to work noticed the flames, and began knocking on the door, trying to alert the people inside. What a heroic thing to do! Would I do the same?

I don't know this family at all, but I wish there was some way I could let them know they are on my heart, and I care about what happened to them. I am hopeful that in the midst of watching their home burn, they felt comforted by our Father....because that is what we were praying for.

Weepy Woman

I have been a little weepy lately and I can't attribute it to any of the usual reasons women are typically emotional (i.e. pregnancy, PMS, lacking sleep, etc.). Today, after perusing what was left of Target's 75% off Christmas items, I was returning home in my "Momma Mobile" when an old Rod Stewart song began playing on the radio. (Not as old as Maggie May or You wear it well..... but still old, relatively speaking.) Now, Rod Stewart is not someone I have great respect for, or would even remotely want to emulate his parenting techniques (does he even have any kids?), but the words of this song tugged deeply at my heart strings. Instantly, visions of my girls at various stages of their 10 and 12 year old lives, began to flash through my mind like a slide show. And then the tears came.......


May the good Lord be with you
Down every road you roam
And may sunshine and happiness
Surround you when you're far from home
And may you grow to be proud
Dignified and true
And do unto others
As you'd have done to you
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart you'll always stay
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young

OH!!! Before I was a momma, this song meant nothing to me!!!!! In fact, I was in college when it came out. (See...that's why the song is not that old.) Look what motherhood has done to me!!!! As I continued to digest the words, I quickly checked the rear view mirror to make sure the mascara was still in tact. That is always a good sign. No raccoon eyes, or puffy eyelids. Gregg and I have always teased the girls that we will need to be brought in on stretchers, down the aisle, on their wedding day. After listening to this song today, it may be a strong possibility. Anyone know a place that will rent stretchers out just for the day? Say in 2030?

Happy New Year!!!!!!