Part of the reason I am behind is that I went out of town on business for a couple days last week. It's the first time I've traveled for business in several years. But that's part of the reason for my delay. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Let's see, what's first...well, a few weeks ago, I started experiencing some weird heart happenings. It's hard to describe without you having experienced it yourself, but it felt like my heart was skipping a beat or double beating or something. I wasn't experiencing any chest, shoulder or arm pain/numbness, so I didn't really think I was in danger, but I had my blood pressure checked by the nurse at work just to be sure. It was normal, but I went ahead and made an appointment with my doctor so I could be sure before I headed off on my business trip. After lots of questions and an EKG, the doctor declared my heart HEALTHY! But the diagnosis was stress. Imagine that. Basically, he told me I needed desperately to get some exercise. Not only will that help me lose the weight, but it will help me burn off stress. So far, I haven't done anything. I know I need to but it just doesn't seem to fit into my schedule. I am going to do it though...and the weird things that were going on aren't happening anymore, so that's all good.
On a different note, there are some goings on with work. At this point, because I'm unsure as to who is reading this blog, I won't divulge which of us it's for or specifics, but certainly proves to be interesting these days. Hopefully I'll have more to say soon.
In Jenna world-before I left for my trip, Steve and I had our fall parent/teacher conference. And can I say, I SO love this teacher?! (we'll call her Mrs. S) She is absolutely wonderful! I am so glad Jenna has the privilege of being in her class this year. She basically asked me (tongue in cheek) if I'd noticed any "strong willed" tendencies. Who? My Jenna??? Yeah. We've noticed. But she made several comments that I found quite comforting...first of all, she told us God made Jenna this way and we should not try and change her. It was the first time I had thought of Jenna's personality as being uniquely designed for her by God. Mrs. S went on to say because we know God doesn't make mistakes, we figure He must have big plans for her. I believe that, but Mrs. S said something else that really hit home with me. She was talking about how her strong willed son who would argue with the wall if he thought it would argue back (anyone out have a child like that?!), but she pointed out that Moses, who God used to do HUGE things for the Israelites, basically argued with God face to face. OK, face to a burning bush that wasn't burning...and God used that hard headedness to do big things...so all that said, she really put my mind at ease that Jenna will be OK and if we all work together to channel that strong will, she will most likely turn into a great leader. I did mention that I worried about her teen years and that the strong will might become a problem. Mrs. S stated that studies show teens who were strong willed as children typically have less trouble than those that were really laid back and easy going as kids. This is because strong willed children have learned how to assert themselves and so are less likely to give in to peer pressure or seek the acceptance of peers unlike their laid back counterparts who may just go with the flow and end up in trouble. That's of course, not to say those of you lucky parents with laid back kids have anything to worry about. Ultimately, regardless of the personality, if channeled and nurtured properly, kids will turn out fine. But for me, it was a relief to hear such things. Thank the Lord for wonderful teachers like Mrs. S!!!
In other Jenna news, she just reached her 1 year milestone in gymnastics. We are truly proud that she has stuck with it this long. She really seems to enjoy it. She is still taking violin lessons, but I have a sneaking suspicion at the end of the semester, she'll want to drop it and try something else. She's mentioned both ballet/dance and piano. We'll see.
Last Saturday, Jenna went to a birthday party which was ice skating. I can't even remember the last time I was on ice skates! And this was Jenna's first time. She did roller skating last year, but she wasn't into it and neither Steve nor I got on them, so she really didn't enjoy it. But I braved it and got myself a pair of ice skates, and put some on her. I was never that great of an ice skater and I haven't gotten any better on my hiatus over the years. I figured Jenna would spend most of her time on the ice, which she did, but there was an instructor teaching them the basics and she did really well! Lucky for me, I
stayed vertical the entire time also! Jenna was soaking wet at the end, but still had a blast!And finally, last Friday while Steve was bowling, Jenna and I went to visit Rachel and Hannah (whose Daddy was also gone for the evening). Before we went, we stopped to pick out a Halloween costume for Jenna. While I was there, I found the one that Hannah wanted, so I picked it up too. Of course, after dinner, the girls wanted to try them out, so here they are. The "rock star" and "Sleeping Beauty". I can already tell these girls are going to pay their Mamas back for everything we put our moms through. They are a mess. Separately and together. If you don't believe me, follow the link to Rachel's blog and check out the one of them in the motorized vehicle. Yes...truly just a preview of things to come I'm sure.
Lastly, there are TONS of things I like about the small town in which I live. I like the fact that there's no Wal-Mart (sorry, just can't stand it). I like the fact that people are friendly and it feels like a small town. I like that we are in one of the fastest growing communities in the NATION. I like that they are building a Cracker Barrel AND a super-Target (the only one in the middle TN area). I like that on a quiet and clear night, I can hear the cows mooing from the nearby farm and see more stars than I can ever count in the sky. And one of the best, BEST things about living here is the sunrise. Leaving my subdivision in the morning has been awe inspiring lately. Because I always carried a small digital camera in my purse, I get some of the best shots of the sunrise. The other day I seriously thought the sky looked as if God had taken His huge paintbrush, dabbed it full of pink, orange, purple and blue and painted a huge swath of color across the sky. The pictures truly don't do it justice. It was absolutely breath-taking. Even Jenna noticed. Even now, looking at these photos makes me think of the words of a song,
"How great is our God...sing with me, how great is our God and all will see how great...how great...is our GOD."
1 comment:
Gods paint brush is so much better than our own. I love a good sunrise. Thanks
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