2nd Day of Lent

I'm not sure if it's withdrawals, but I've had a headache all day.  But good news!  The internet says that there's no "fasting" on the Christian Sabbath, aka Sunday.  I had to do some major research to find that.  So maybe I won't have to wait til Easter to catch up on my shows. :)  Also read that the Archdiocese of New Orleans says that alligator is seafood.  So if you're giving up meat...things are starting to look up.

I emptied a third of a bottle of Coke Zero in my camera bag tonight.  Shoulda been watching TV.

Not only is today the 2nd day of Lent, it's also Valentine's Day.  Here's a picture of what my Valentine gave me:









That's right.  Nothing.

I got him the same thing.  We must be in love.

Ash Wednesday

I'm giving up TV for Lent.  Therefore, I am blogging.  Sadly, I'm not giving up DVR-ing, so I don't want to see any FB posts about who Sean proposes to, or who's the Biggest Loser.  I'll find out for myself after Easter, thank you very much.

My husband did some calculating and informed me that he puts in more hours of work per week than I do per month.  I think not.  Maybe he gets payed for more hours, but I don't think he's taking all things into consideration.  Today, I got our taxes together, met with the accountant, met with an insurance agent to get a better rate, went to the grocery store, the bank, the post office and the pharmacy.  Did 2 loads of laundry--folded and put away--picked the grandkids up from school, prepared 4 bowls of cereal for them, read two books (I Am a Monster and Spongebob and the Great Snail Race), colored two pages in the Giant Bug Coloring Book, found and printed an airport parking coupon for this weekend, made rental car reservations, and went to church.  I need to start logging my hours.

Speaking of work hours.  I'm gonna have to start working an extra hour a day just to pay for my gas to get there.  $3.49/gallon.  What????

So.  My first day with no TV.  Just 45 days to go.

Granddaughters are Grand

Gymnastics meets have begun.  And although it's not a gender-specific sport, it's one my boys never attempted.  So it's pretty fun to watch Lauren.  And she's really quite good.

Here are a few photos from her first two meets.

Haven't even started and she's practicing her salute.

Ready for the Vault

And there she goes!

So far, her best scores have been in this event.  9.3 both meets.

Unevens 

Floor

Original announcement put her 4th All-Around, but after further calculations, she was actually 5th.

Still...awesome.

Two weeks later.....

 Warm-up splits.  Which she forgot to do in her Floor Routine, resulting in a deduction. :(

Balance Beam

The gym wasn't set up well for spectators/photographers.  So I'll have to have a little talk with them about that.  Able to get a few on the balance beam.  

She fell off the beam once during the first meet.  But this time....

Nailed it! (High C singing voice.)

Fourth place again.  This time for real!

Jacob's pretty bored with the whole thing.

Me:  Hey Jacob, Lauren's getting ready to do her Floor routine.  Ya wanna watch her?

Jacob:  Nah.

Resolution #3: Get Organized / Get Rid of Stuff

And by that, I mean throw away old receipts.  Like from April 27, 2010.  I'm serious.

This morning, I tackled two dresser drawers.  This stresses me out, 'cause I go through periods of tossing Hallmark cards, but when I start reading some that I've saved it makes me all sentimental and like, I'll never throw away an anniversary card ever again!

Which brings me to today's project.  I've had an envelope in my drawer for, ummm, about 23 years, give or take.  Inside are strips, bits and pieces of torn paper.  I'll never forget the day I tucked that envelope away.

It was around Mother's Day, and it was about the time my sweet oldest child transitioned from perfect child to Damien from The Omen.

I found the torn paper in his room and tried to fit some of the pieces together, but all I could make out was that it was a "Mother's Day Assignement" at school.  Suffice it to say, he was really ticked off at me that day.  And every day for the next eight years.

I vowed to "some day" piece the puzzle together and see what he had originally written.

So that's what I've been doing most of the morning.

Page 1:

Draw a picture of your mother.  (He drew me smiling, so that's good.)

Write a paragraph explaining how you can keep your own mother happy.  Always obeying her and doing what she tells you to do.

List three things you do that make Mother unhappy.  how could you solve each of these problems?
1.  Flushing the tolet.  Start flushing the tolet.  (I'm still really OCD about this.)
2.  Cleaning room.  Keep it clean.
3.  Not doing homework.  Doing it right when I get home. (Yeah, that never happened.)

Page 2:

Use your imagination to tell what would happen in your home if your mother...

...had a magic wand.  She would fix all her problems in one second.

...won a million dollars in a television contest.  Buy a mini van and a porsh.

...found a black kitten in a basket on the doorstep.  She would keep it.

...could take a trip to any place in the world she wanted to go.  She would go to Jamaca.

...had a chance to go to the moon.  She wouldn't go.  (Ya wanna bet?)

...baked a magic cake.  She would let all the family including her eat it.

...could buy you any present you'd like.  It would be an computer.

Page 3:

Write a paragraph telling something special about your mother.

She allways takes time to spend with my brother and I.  And always gives us nice gifts.

I love you mom!!!!!

xxxooooooooX

love, 

Jeremy

Jeremy turned 35 yesterday.  I hope to goodness he has learned to flush the toilet.

Breaking Resolution #1

New Year's Resolution #1:  Less Whining

That one's about to be broken right now.

Is there no end to football?

I actually like football.  I can get an awesome Sunday afternoon nap when the game's on.

But the "bowl season" just about does me in.  Forget any meaningful conversations with the hubster.  "Wonder who won the ______ Bowl?"  "What time does the ________ Bowl start?"  "When does OSU play?"  "Peterson just needs 9 more yards to beat the record."
I. Don't. Care.

Clueless.

Last night I enjoyed a brief hiatus since OKC Thunder was playing basketball. :)  I'll take what I can get.

On a positive note, I am keeping Resolution #2:  Take at least one photograph a day.

Dased and Confuzed

It's been exactly one month since I lost my mind.

Short version:

November 14, 2012

• clicked on notification on FB from cousin - Carl Tipton
• Recognized Carl, but the name "Tipton" just didn't compute (why would he change his name?)
• Closed notification
• "tried" to read a post by FB friend
• massive jumble of letters (has she forgotten how to spell?)
• tried sounding out words phonetically, i.e. a-ma-zon
• nope, don't have a clue what that means
• slam my computer shut
• Neal calls from living room, "When did Frank Mitchell leave?"
• Me: Who?
• Neal: Frank Mitchell--Channel 8 weather man 
• (who incidentally works out at our gym and has been "our weather guy" for umpteen years)
• Me:  Frank......?
• Neal:  MITCHELL--FRANK MITCHELL
• Me:  That's not right........
• Break down in hysterical tears
• Neal wants to know what's wrong
• Me:  I was trying to read something on.....you know....
• Neal:  Facebook?
• Me:  No.....you know.....
• Neal:  Facebook!
• Me:  No....face......
• Neal:  Book!  Facebook!
• Me:  No....that's not it.....
• I give up and go to sleep on the couch

One MRI, one MRA, one Carotid Doppler, one CT Angiogram and thousands of dollars later--

• my arteries have some plaque and stenosis but not "significant"
• doctor goes back to original diagnosis of "complex migraine"

I get it.  Sort of.  A complex migraine can imitate a stroke.  But everything I've read indicates that the symptoms are gone within 24-48 hours.  I have been language-challenged for a month.  

The good news is--since my arteries are not as clogged as originally suspected, I can go back to my smoking, drinking, high-fat diet and slothful lifestyle.

A Word from God

This may sound pompous, or scary, or crazy to you.  I'm okay with that.

I'm pretty sure I heard from God this morning.

There.  I said it.  And I'm not taking it back.

As I was praying this morning, I talked to God about the election results.  I'm not an Obama fan.  Sorry.  I'm also not a Romney fan.  Sorry, again.  But I did vote, and although Oklahoma went my way, it wasn't enough.

So I was praying for our country, not only for our economic stability, but for Obama to seek God's will.  And in the middle of my inept rambling I heard myself pray this:  "God, I pray that Americans who believe in You and salvation through Your Son will have the loudest voices."  Oh my God!  (and I say that with utmost respect)

So now I just have to be open to opportunities that He gives me to be one of those voices.

"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along.  If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter.  He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans."  Romans 8:26 The Message

Random Discoveries

Today I found Corpus Christi's Antique Row.

And I scored this sweet set of old hat boxes.

$82.50?  Really?  Obviously I'm not the only one who thought that was an outrageous price since it was in the 75% off room.  $20.63.  Oh yeah.

Then I found this under Neal's truck.

Anyone wanna "take a stab" at a caption?  I got nothin'.

Virtual Hunting

Stella can't keep up with the squirrels today.

I Heart Paris

Eiffel Tower

From the bottom...

And from the top...

Notre Dame

Inside...

And out...

As you can see, it was raining most of the day.

Did we care?

We did not.

Arc De Triomphe

Weary travelers, the night before departure.

Paris Hilton

-- where I went to the Executive Lounge for a late night snack in my hotel slippers.  It was my turn to embarrass Janet.

The Netherlands

Yep.  We stumbled upon the very same windmill we saw last year, simply by meandering through the countryside.  

In Maastricht, we took a cruise on the Maas River, where I think we all caught a little shut-eye.  Apologies to the Captain, but the breeze, the gentle water, and the monotonous babble of the tour in three different languages was just too much for these exhausted travelers to be expected to stay alert.

This woke Janet up.  An RV park on the Maas.  I guess she took pictures to entice Joe to make this trip some day.

(She also took pictures of a guy mowing the grass at the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  For Joe.  I'm sure he's packing his bags.)

Crepes for lunch!  Cheesy, delicious and HUGE.  When will we learn to share orders?

This is the look Sherry had every time we ordered a meal.

When Greg left to fetch the van, the four of us ladies walked across the town square.  A group of students were apparently having a video scavenger hunt and roped us into singing their school song with them.  We assured them we only spoke English, but that didn't seem to matter.  So there's a video.  Probably on YouTube.  With us singing a Dutch High School song.  I'm sure it's gone viral by now.

Verviers, Belgium

If you had asked me to describe Belgium after last year's visit, I would have said, "grey." That would have been wrong.  Last year it was cool, cloudy and rainy.  This visit was warm and sunny, and now I would describe it as "beautiful."

Last year

This year

See what I mean?

We stayed at the Verviers Vandervalk Hotel, which used to be a train station.

Very different from the hotel in the Netherlands where we stayed last year.  (Remember the story about breaking in?)

Anyway.  This hotel was quite lovely.  And we were never locked out.

Belgium has several American cemeteries, Henri Chapelle being the largest (if I have my facts straight).

After an amazing worship service on Sunday, we took a drive to the church's campgrounds. 'Cause we haven't spent near enough time in the car.

Then on to Malmedy for our Belgian waffles!

I quit after 4.  Carol would still be eating if they had kept the jam coming.

We had a wonderful visit with Jean-Marie and Suzanne.  Except for the slight hiccup when Greg ratted me out  announced that I was no longer attending the home congregation.  I thought Jean-Marie was gonna flip.  I'm thinkin' this is probably my last trip to Europe. ;-) Good luck photoshopping me out of all the pics.

Subtle.  Yet makes a statement.