How Long 'Til Someone Notices?

Apparently, four days... You-know-who brought it to my attention today! :) Thanks, honey for keeping me honest!

I am so close to the end of my 60 days and I plummeted!! I have racked my brain every day for something to blog about. There is just no creativity here lately!

In the past four days there were several things I could have blogged about:
*It was a baseball weekend (shocker, I know!).
*When eating in a booth in Wendy's, my foot started on fire. I brought it out to look at and it was covered in ants!
*I am working on several photo albums that I am behind on.
*I am wanting to purchase a Criket and be creative in other ways. Does anyone have any pros or cons for me on the Criket??
*Today was a good Bible Study with great life lessons from Joseph.
*The wind has been blowing so hard that pine needles have attacked! -- so much so that men were standing in the middle of Research Forest (a major road) with blowers trying to clean them up!

I think about these things and am just not inspired to expound on any of them. Period.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring some zing!

Don't Get Dressed In The Dark

I have always done some form of exercise. I have never joined a gym or boot camp. The only time I exercised with other live people was in college when I took an aerobics class. I have never enjoyed jumping around and sweating in front of others! I feel that I am fortunate to have the willpower to put on some DVD and work out with the people on the OTHER side of the screen!

When I went home for a visit this summer, my mom and I walked three miles every day around her neighborhood. When I came home five pounds lighter (even after having all the comfort foods that say "Albuquerque"), I thought maybe this was a form of exercise I should take up!

Weeks passed and then a couple months passed and I still hadn't "walked among the people"! Mom came in late September and we decided to walk again. I even added an app to my phone to keep track of our progress. Last week, Chris and I walked and improved on mine and mom's time.

This morning I decided it was a beautiful morning and I should do this on my own. I sat out for my route, passed lots of people -- some I knew -- , smiled and said a cheery "Good Morning", even tried to improve my time by running in spurts here and there. When I got home I had improved my time! 3.03 miles in 46 minutes! I was feeling pretty impressed with myself.

I walked into the house and passed a mirror only to see that the gray shorts I had picked up off the closet floor in the dark this morning -- and still was wearing-- were smeared with yellow paint all over the rear!! Remembering all those people who had passed me on foot and in their cars had me turning red. I then reached into the waistband of those shorts to get the kleenex I had stashed there just in case and ... it was GONE!!

I am sure there is someone who will tell about this poor woman they passed today who had a yellow butt and a kleenex trailing behind her! Hmmm....at least I was friendly!

A Good Day

Colby stayed home from school today. He has been fighting a bad cold -- no fever or running nose -- just a bad cough.

We ended up having a good day.

We cleaned out his closet (without ANY complaining on his part!); went to lunch; and, went to Target to get a birthday gift for his friend, his Halloween costume and start his Christmas/birthday list. Yes...I was one of THOSE moms that I give dirty looks to when I pass them and their coughing child in Target!!

He is such a fun kid and I love spending time with him. Who wouldn't love spending time with this face?!?

Bits and Pieces

I heard a story today about a man in a old, beat-up row boat. He was fishing in a cove and looked up to see a beautiful, sleek yacht pass by. As the yacht passed him and his rickety vessel, he noticed the name on the back -- "Residual".

Evidently, this yacht owner had made some big bucks somewhere down the line to use his leftovers on such an elaborate toy!

I had to think twice about the word "residual". A residue makes me think of something slippery, slimy and gunky. A "residual effect" -- something negative coming from a bad decision.

We all have these "leftovers" from our past. They may haunt us. Satan uses the residual effects of bad decisions to make us feel guilty, angry, shameful. Satan makes "residual" feel like a bad word. He wants it to clog our hearts and minds and loose all hope, self-worth and joy.

Thankfully, "residual" has another definition: a situation following an event; payoff; impact. We Christians can cling to the residual bits and pieces left by Christ and what he did for us. The event of his death and resurrection and the residual effects of that are nothing but positive! The leftovers for us is forgiveness and eternal life! It is freedom from our past; hope for our future.

I may never have enough extra funds to buy a yacht; however, I know that my "Residual" is worth far more.

Brotherly Advice

Connor got his phone taken away today at school.

According to him, he was JUST checking the date.

I have to say that I tend to believe him because in all the years that he has had his phone, it has never gotten taken away. The phone is "spending the night" in the front office of the school. I gave him some motherly advice: when you get it back tomorrow, don't be tempted to sit and check all the texts you have missed. In fact, put it deep into your backpack!"

Colby had another piece of advice...in the morning before school, look at the calendar and write down the date on a notecard!

I guess brotherly advice was on the schedule today because Connor had some brotherly advice for Colby too.

Colby was very excited to tell us about a boy in his class who pulled FOUR teeth today at school. I said, "Wow! The toothfairy will be busy tonight at his house!" Colby replied, "For some reason he threw them all in the trash!"

Connor piped up, winked at me and added his two sense. "You should have got them out of the trashcan and pulled a fast one over the toothfairy!"

Beyond Thrilled

About two months ago, Chris got a promotion. He is a hard worker, dedicated to his job and to his company. He enjoys figuring out the most productive ways to make things work. He loves challenges. So this promotion was an awesome opportunity for him to conquer more challenges. The only drawback is the travel that accompanies the new position. He is responsible for 100 manufacturing plants located all over the world.

In the last 25 days, 15 of those have been spent in other countries. The same is in store for the next 25 days.

I am so thankful that he has this opportunity and that God has blessed me with a husband who provides for me and my boys more than we need or deserve. But, the single-mom syndrome gets old some days. I have to stop and laugh because my busiest time of day is still when Chris is at work. So, it's not like him being in the country is any different on my taxi services! For me, it is the emotional and physical presence when I get home from running the boys around. I need to see him and hug him!

He has been gone for the past 8 days -- Amsterdam, Norway, Vienna, Cyprus, Italy. He was supposed to be in France today. Thankfully, the French airlines are fussing about something and it would have been a wasted trip for him to go. So, he will be home earlier than planned! In fact, I am typing this while trying to kill some time before heading to the airport! Needless to say, I love the French right now!

They say "absence makes the heart grow fonder". I believe that is true. I have learned to cherish our time at home together much more than I used to. As challenging as this transition could be, I am thankful for the "togetherness" that has happened in our relationship. It is "intoxicating"!

I love this man!

A Cheap Lunch??

I had an hour to kill around lunch time today.

After going over our spending habits last night, I decided we need to be a little more thrifty about some things. In order to help my budget cause, I decided I would head to Sam's Club and eat a huge piece of pepperoni pizza and wash it down with a mega Diet Coke -- all for the budget-conscious $2.68 (yes, that includes tax!!)

I still had a few minutes to spare so I decided to walk around and peruse the merchandise. I ended up at the ladies clothes and noticed that they had Lucky Jeans for $16.99!!! That was amazing! I started searching through the stacks like I didn't have a single pair of jeans in my closet -- unfortunately, they were all a size 0! Well...I somehow forgot about saving money and started searching through the great deals that Sam's has to offer. I have learned that if you don't buy it when you see it, it will be gone the next time! ...I ended up with a pair of yoga pants and tank top.

I did get one thing I needed...I shouldn't need paper towels for the rest of the year!

So...in the end, my $2.68 lunch ended up costing $45 instead! I think I just need to stay home so I won't spend any money!