Our Weekend & Agnus Dei

I'm sure you are wondering what in the world my title could mean. It's an odd choice of combination I'm fully aware.

First, I'll tell you about the Agnus Dei part...yesterday at church, we sang this song. For those who don't know, one version of this song was done by Michael W. Smith. And let me tell you, with the BBC full orchestra going, it was absolutely heavenly. I mean, I could literally shut my eyes and imagine myself in what I think heaven looks like. And I do think heaven will be full of music. All I know is we know heaven will be better than anything we can possibly imagine here on earth and after this Sunday's orchestra music, I can't wait to get there!

Now, for our weekend...it was a busy one. As you know, our intent was to pressure wash and restain both the deck and the fence as well as Jenna's swing set if we could manage. Steve got up about 7am to head to the Brentwood Home Depot to rent the pressure washer. He got back home only to discover that they'd forgotten to give him the washer hose. Can't use the washer without the hose. So, back to Home Depot he goes. Home again, hook everything up and spray siding wash on the house (we wanted to wash the side of the house before starting the deck), hook up the pressure washer and turn it on. It provided about as much pressure as the garden hose. This was caused mainly by all the water squirting out from the hose where it was attached to the washer. SO. Back to Home Depost for trip #3. Needless to say, they gave us the rental for free.

The second washer we brought home was fine, thank goodness! But what all these fun trips to Home Depot in Brentwood (for those that aren't local, this is a good 25 minute drive ONE WAY per trip) meant was that we didn't really get started working until almost noon. What that also means is that the sun was just starting to peek over the house to the back yard about that time. So we pressure washed and stained in the full sun about 90 degrees (yes, in mid September!). But, we got it mostly done. We still lack the inside of the fence washing and staining and some staining of the deck...just touch ups on the outside of the railing...Oh, and we washed the swing set but didn't get to stain it.

Steve went out and bought a pressure washer (they were on sale) and he's taking off on Friday because Jenna doesn't have school and hopefully get the fence washed, the few touch ups on the deck done and now that we OWN a pressure washer, we'll wash the driveway and seal it again...hopefully the weather will be a little cooler and the rain will hold off. Not sure how much you can see from the before and after pictures, but trust me, there's a HUGE difference!!!

A full weekend ahead...

I think I've gotten yelled at twice today for my lack of an update, so here it is! I'm so thankful for all of you that keep up with me here. Like many fellow bloggers, you write and write and wonder if anyone out there is reading, so even though I fuss about getting my hands slapped, I like to hear from you all to let me know someone is reading.

My friend Christy in AZ has just started her blog, so welcome Christy to blogworld!!!! She's got 4 kids all age 6 or under so I'll be anxious to follow their developments!

The reason for the delay in my blog updates have been that we've just been busy. It seems that every night of the week this week, we've had something going on. Steve's been busy at work and I had to take off a little early Monday to take Jenna to gymnastics and violin. Her violin teacher expressed some concerns with Jenna's lack of concentration. I got all bummed out thinking about it but now I just don't know whether both activities on one day is too much (we did that to keep more evenings free) or if being 6 means 15 minutes of concentration and that's it. Anyway, next week we'll have Steve sit in on the lesson to help her focus and then if that doesn't work, we're going to try moving gymnastics to another night. I hate to do that, but I also don't want to have her quit violin. She told me she likes it but "it's just hard". I don't want to teach her to quit when something gets hard.

On a sad note, Chase's girlfried of 2 years broke up with him this week. Needless to say, Chase is beside himself. Unfortunately, being that this was his first real girlfriend and first heartbreak, he cannot let well enough alone. I, personally, think she just needs some time apart from him to "find herself" and find out who she is before she can give herself to anyone. Chase of course, doesn't understand that and just can't bring himself to leave her alone. He wants to call and talk about it. Last night on the way home from work, I tried to put my very expensive psychology degree to work with him. Not sure if it did any good, but for those of you with little ones at home, let me tell you, watching your child go through this is NO FUN! I know he's not my flesh and blood, but I love him and Micah like they are mine and it's miserable. I take on what I refer to as "Bob the Builder" personality and want to "fix" the situation. Which is ironic because I believe that's what Chase is trying to do right now and I keep trying to tell him some things just can't be fixed and sometimes as a woman, we just want the men to be there and NOT FIX it!

Anyway, it's been a busy week and next week is shaping up to be no different. I found out late yesterday I will be traveling in a little over a week to Charlotte and Orlando on business. It's the first business trip I've taken in a while and while I'm looking forward to it, I will fly out on an early flight one day, do a presentation in Charlotte, then fly out of there that evening to Orlando. Spend the night in Orlando, do a presentation the next day and fly out for home that night. So, on the first day of travel, I'll have breakfast, lunch and dinner in 3 different states/cities. Cool. I'll be beat on Friday when I come back to work...not to mention I'll have TONS of emails to sift through!

OK, I hope that's enough updates for all of you blog addicts! I'm keeping Hannah tonight and she and Jenna are in her room playing. Steve's bowling and I'm about to do tonight's Bible Study while the TV isn't on. Tomorrow, Steve and I are refinishing and restaining our deck, fence and Jenna's swing set. That should be loads of fun. No rest for the weary. I'll try to do before and after pictures tomorrow.

S-

A short update

Before I get yelled at for not posting, I thought I'd give a quick update on us.

Not much has been going on to be honest. Well, that's a lie. We've been extremely busy, but it's just the same ole stuff. We had a great labor day. Pretty much hung around the house, slept late and enjoyed the extra day off. But last week was the longest short week I've had in a while!

I started getting sick on Wednesday afternoon and really didn't feel 100% until yesterday morning when I woke up. I got on antibiotics right away, so that was good. I still have a bit of a cough, but other than that, I'm good.

Jenna is still doing her gymnastics and violin lessons, although she got the day off last Monday due to the holiday. The next few weekends are going to have a busy-ness all their own!

I guess that's about it for now. Seems like I should have lots to tell, but not so much. I'll keep you posted as (if) that changes!

I got this in an email today. I thought it was appropriate for what our family has just gone through.


The Purpose of a Dog - from a 4 year old

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for the four-year old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion.

We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life- - like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?"

The four-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

Doing better...

Just wanted to quickly thank everyone who has emailed or called with kind thoughts over our recent loss...

We are doing better today. Missy is still very much on our minds, but the emotions aren't as close to the surface anymore. Kids are remarkably resilient and Jenna is faring better than Steve and I. Jenna took it harder last night and we are taking it harder after the fact.

Fred and Mack are very clingy and whiny tonight. I know they are painfully aware of her absence as well. It will take time for all of us. But thank God, time, we have (at least we think we do!)

I'm off to watch my Netflix movie and just relax! Happy Labor Day weekend!

Farewell Faithful Friend...

"Missy"

1993-2007

It's done.

I can say without a doubt, it was one of the most awful things I've had to go through. We knew we had to do it and it was best for her, but it was hard. After talking with my good friend and mentor, Sherri, she convinced me that I needed to be with Missy in the last moments. I was already convinced that we needed to be honest with Jenna about what was about to happen. She knew Missy wasn't well and knew there would come a day, but she really didn't understand. Not sure why Steve and I chose dinner (over meatloaf no less) to tell her, but she'd only had about two bites when we brought it up and she started sobbing. And I'm pretty sure she didn't stop until we were about halfway home from the emergency vet. I guess that is what made it pretty awful too is watching your child go through this and being powerless to help.

I will say, because our vet was not able to work us in for several days, we chose to go to the next county's emergency vet. They were so, so kind, sympathetic and thoughtful. They explained what would happen, what they would do and that it would be quick, painless and peaceful. And my only regret was that I didn't do it sooner. I know that sounds so cruel, but we didn't want to do it and so we both made excuses (Oh, she's not in pain) for too long. We really waited too long.

Sherri would be proud. Not only did I stay by her side, with my hand on her the whole time, but we ALL THREE stayed in until she was gone. Jenna wouldn't think of leaving. We kept asking her and through her sobs, she insisted on staying. All we all cried. For those of you who have never had to euthanize a pet, I would recommend staying with your friend until the end. Sherri told me this before when she went through the same thing with her beloved cats. I thought she was crazy. But before we left the house, I knew it was what I had to do. I feel like we were there with her to the end...

The beginning: Missy came to us in the spring of 1993, just a few short months after my mother passed away. Our across the street neighbor's daughter found her as a stray and was looking for a home for her. I guess my dad was still grieving too much to tell me no, so we took her in. She was about 3 months old then. We hadn't had a dog in some time...not a real dog since Smokey, my childhood german shepherd. Missy came in and shortly thereafter, I met and married Steve and she became "our" dog. I guess in a way, Missy became my comforter after my mother's death. And I guess that's why it became so important to me to be by her side at the end. We'd been through an awful lot together. She'd never deserted me and I wasn't about to do it to her. Anyway, she grew up and was such a loving dog...such a good girl. We brought in Mack, then Mocha (dogs), then Midnight (cat) adopted us and spent most of her time outside with Missy. Finally, came Fred. All the while, Missy was the "Mama". I'd like to think she is now wherever faithful pets go...running and playing with Midnight and Mocha and even Smokey. She's strong and nimble like when she was young. That's the way I'll choose to remember her.

I wish I could say this is the last time I'll have to go through this...watch my child and even my husband go through this, but it's not. In fact, for Steve and I, it's not even the first time. We had to have Mocha euthanized several years back after a full on seizure. Shortly after, we found Midnight in the neighbor's yard. So, this was not the first. And with Mack being 9 years old and both Maggie and Molly about 8, this day will come again.

It's part of loving something.

And letting go.

It's part of life.

And death.

Farewell old girl. Thanks for the last 14 years. We'll never forget you.

A flying leap!

We've had some excitement today...take a look at this nutcase of a cat...we recently bought this to hang in Jenna's room to get some of the stuffed animals off the floor and bed. He loves to play with it and this is how he ended up tonight! And you know, it's the funniest thing...Jenna is in love with this little guy! He lets her tote him around like a rag doll and they are both so alike...both daredevils. If you don't believe me, read on...

Ever since we got Mittens (he was only about 5 weeks old when Steve rescued him), he has this thing where he walks on the outer edge of the staircase. When I say that, I mean, he walks on the ledge OUTSIDE the spindles of the landing overlooking the foyer. Several times, we've wondered how long it would be before he fell or jumped. Well. Today was the day.

This morning, he was out wandering around. Jenna and I were in the kitchen getting ready to leave for the day. Steve was in the master bath still getting ready because he'd not felt 100% when he woke up so he was running late. All of a sudden, I heard a thud in the hallway and when I looked, I saw Mittens slinking off toward the stairs. I knew immediately that he'd fallen from our upstairs. I figured it would happen, but it was so scary when it did. I ran to the stairs and yelled for Steve. Mittens was awake, but not moving and breathing funny. He was breathing like either he had a collapsed lung or had the breath knocked out of him. We watched and waited for a few minutes trying to decide what to do, but after about 20 minutes, he did not improve, so Steve stayed home and took him to the vet. Long story short, he's a little daredevil, but we don't think he'll be trying to fly anytime soon. He was fine. A little sore, maybe bruised and definitely shocked and had the breath knocked out of him, but fine! PHEW!

Needless to say, when this all happened, Jenna was a basket case. She was just beside herself, in tears...the whole 9 yards and because I didn't know what would happen, I had to talk to her about the worst thing...

Which is good because we are going this weekend to have our old Shepherd mix put down. She's nearly 15 years old and she can't get around anymore due to her bad hips. We've put it off as long as we can and probably way longer than we should. She is now not eating, not moving much and not drinking, which is very bad in this heat wave. We are so not looking forward to this. But we definitely don't want to come home and find her dead, although somehow I think that would be easier. This is the worst thing about being a pet owner. You have to do the right thing...the humane thing...but it is SO hard. We got Missy after my mom died...so there's some sweet memories to her.

But. To end on a happier note. On my way to church tonight, my gas light came on. I hate to see that stupid light because it means a delay somewhere in my day where I don't have the time to stop and get gas. But anyway, I called Steve, told him I was on my way, but that after Jenna was done with Mission Friends, I'd have to stop before coming home to get gas. After dropping Jenna off, he was going to drive my van around to the back of the church so I could go right out when I picked her up. Well, he was gone for the longest time. Finally, he shows back up with my keys and I asked him what took him so long. He didn't really answer, but left to come home. About 1/2 hour later, Jenna got done with Mission Friends and I picked her up, hurrying out to get on and get gas and get her home before bedtime. When I got in my van, there was a gas receipt on the dash where he'd gone and gotten gas in my van when he moved it around to the back parking lot! How freaking sweet is that?!?!?!? I dare any of you women reading to top that!

20 Years...

...of absolutely wonderful, beautiful, and heavenly music.

Tonight our church celebrated 20 years of instrumental music. It's been 20 years since our orchestra started. I've said it here before, but if our choir and orchestra is even a tiny taste of the music in heaven, trust me, I'm ready to go now. Sometimes I can just close my eyes and imagine angels singing and playing music. Because the church is large, the choir and orchestra are likewise. Tonight, I had my camera during the special performance and the final song with the choir. I was really planning to upload the video, but it is just not going to take in blogger tonight. Hopefully I can get it uploaded soon.

After we returned home, I caught our kitten, Mittens, peeking out the window at the dogs. I thought it was pretty cute...

A weekend being "Parents of Two"

This weekend, Gage stayed with us. I was a little uneasy because we just don't see him as often as we'd like and I didn't know what to expect. But let me tell you, that baby laughs up a storm all the time! I got a couple videos of him laughing. They are a bit shaky because I was trying to make him giggle while videoing.

But I'll tell you, he's been such a good boy while he was here. We took him to a wedding and outside of having what seemed like very loud hiccups, he was perfect! It's interesting though because after having just spent a week with Kylene's 2 girls (whose youngest is 4 mos.) and now this weekend with Jenna and Gage, I am not sure whether I'd choose to go back to the totally-dependent-on-me stage. It's nice that Jenna can dress herself and put her trash in the garbage can (when she chooses to!) But if I wanted to determine my decision based on the weekend with Gage, I'd do it in a heartbeat. We aren't preventing, so if God were to bless me with a miracle, I'd be the first to shout it from the rooftops. But until then, I'm going to love on my sweet girl, Jenna and baby Gage!

First Day of Pre-1st

Well, today was Jenna's first day of Pre-1st and she was on cloud 9! She woke up talking about going to school and I even heard her tell Steve on the phone that she didn't think Ms. Seay would put her in time out because "she's just really nice". And once at school, she was just all over the place. The room is so neat and after it sounded like she had a really good time and ready to get down to business on Monday. I'm anxious to see how quickly she learns. I've heard such good things about Ms. Seay that I'm perfectly at ease with Jenna being in her class.

While Jenna was in school, I went and had breakfast with a couple of the other Pre-1st parents. It was nice and something to do while we waited. After Jenna got out of school, we went and had lunch with Steve. Actually, Jenna had lunch with him because I wasn't hungry from my huge breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. After we left Steve, we visited the mall and did some exchanges. We stopped at the Music and Arts store to pick up her violin. It is SOOOOO tiny! I didn't know they came that small...but I guess they do. Obviously, she doesn't know anything about it yet, but seeing her walk out in her little uniform holding her instrument case nearly brought me to tears. I got home to a postcard from church stating she was being promoted upstairs to the "children's area" this Sunday. My little girl is growing up right before my eyes.

I'm about to go downstairs and drag out all my scrapbooking stuff. I have a day full of scrapping next weekend and I need to be somewhat organized. Micah is bringing Gage over tonight for us to keep this weekend while she works so I'm going to get as much done as I can while I can.

A full day!

What a full day we've had. I'm going to tell you all about it after I vent here a bit first.

I just got a call from Steve who said that his boss got back to him today about his work schedule and said he really needed him to work until 3:30 every day. Now most don't understand why that's a BSD (big stinkin' deal) because us 8-5ers would KILL to get off at 3:30 every day. The problem is that the latest we can pick Jenna up from school is 3:00. So, Steve not getting off until 3:30 means she'll have to go to after care for a little less than an hour to the tune of an extra $110 a month. And the bad thing is that I just registered her today and didn't sign her up for any of that. Now, I have to go back and do it AND figure out where in our budget the extra money is going to come from because it's certainly not going to come from the pockets of Parris Printing. I've never complained or allowed myself to feel bad about being a working mom because it's just the way I knew it had to be. However, I've always felt strongly that Jenna be picked up from school by someone as opposed to going to aftercare. I don't know why that was a "thing" with me, but it was. And up until now, it's worked out. Anyway, I'm furious with his boss and the company because it's one stinkin' hour. You'd think that they would give a little when it comes to family, but they apparently don't care. Not sure if he's reading (you know who you are), but if by chance Steve's boss reads this, I'd like you to help me explain to my 6 year old daughter why it is she's going to have to go to aftercare now. Enjoy your one measley hour of Steve's time. It's costing him time with his daughter. THANKS.

OK, done with that tangent. Thanks for listening. So, we got JG all registered today and can I tell you she is SOOOO excited! I am too...it's hard not to get excited when you see your kid excited. I paid my dues, signed up to help with the parties, talked with her teacher (former teachers and just about everyone else in between), paid for an entire semester of lunch and then bought us all matching DL jackets for the winter. It was great and I can't wait to see how tomorrow goes.

Also, we went for her 6 year check up today and she is healthy! She weighs 45lbs and is 43 1/2 inches tall. That puts her in the 50%ile for weight and 25th %ile for height. What does that tell us? It tells us she apparently is taking after me and my mother...if she continues on like she's doing, she'll be about 5ft. 3 inches...just an inch taller than me. I don't know why she can't get some of my dad's height... Her eyesight is 20/20 which is a blessing. I was worried about that, so it's good to know she sees OK. We were surprised to learn her hearing is perfect too because from the way she listens to us, you'd think she was deaf. Not so. She's just been diagnosed with "selective hearing". Figures. :) What else?

Another doctor's appointment for Mittens today. He too is healthy. He received two more shots and now weighs a whopping 2 1/2 pounds! So he's gained a whole pound in 3-4 weeks. He'll have to gain another couple pounds before he gets declawed/fixed.

We went to pick up Jenna's violin today, but they didn't have one small enough for her. So, the guy there is going to pick one up from the other store in Murfreesboro and bring it with him tomorrow. We'll have to pick it up some time after 1pm.

Steve's on his way home and I'm headed downstairs to start dinner. Figure I'll work out my frustration with his stupid job over the stove. The cleaning lady came today so it'll be nice to work in my clean kitchen.

S-

The Start of Another Year

I got about 4 emails yesterday from friends who wanted to know if I had fallen off of the face of the earth. Of course, I haven't, but with everything going on, I just haven't blogged lately. So, below, I blogged about what I've been doing the past week.

Well, after all the excitement of vacation and the fair, I went back to work Monday right into an all day training session. I had two days after that to catch up and then I'm off tomorrow and Friday.

Tomorrow is Jenna's school registration and I am excited. We get to see Ms. Seay (pronounced "see") her Pre-1st teacher. I've been corresponding with her since we were recommended for Pre-1st last year and we are really hitting it off. She's just a wonderful woman and she has made Jenna more excited about going back to school than I've seen her about anything. On a kind of a TOTAL BUMMER note, I was not asked to be a room mother this year. :( I'm pretty disappointed as I'd done it in Pre-K and Kindergarten. I wanted to go for the 3rd year, but it was not meant to be. But then again, it might be nice to enjoy it from the sidelines this time.

So, we have to get up and out about 8:30am to get there to register by 10am. I'm going to meet a lady to buy her ironing board, then taking Jenna to her annual doctor visit. I'm pretty excited about that too because I get to see how tall and heavy she is and whether she's growing on schedule or not. She won't get any shots, so that pressure is off. Although I do have a list of questions to ask the doctor. I'm a little concerned about her eyesight because it's just a year to year check. Knowing how bad my eyes were by the 6th grade, I know she's going to get that trait, but I'm hoping to put it off as long as we can.

After the doctor, we have to stop by the Music and Arts store to pick up her violin. She has decided she wanted to take either piano or violin lessons. I'm not sure how long she'll keep up with it, but I definitely don't want to stifle her interests because *I* think she's not ready. So, she will start violin on Monday and we'll insist she at least finish the semester. If she sticks with it, it is a good segue way into piano. But we'll see...I'm pretty interested to see how she takes to it. I'd love to find out that she has a natural musical ability (unlike her mother).

Finally, Mittens the kitten has a vet's appointment tomorrow afternoon. Friday is Jenna's first 1/2 day of school, so it will be early to rise. After dropping her off, I'm spearheading a parent's breakfast of the pre-1st parents so it will give them something to do between drop off and pick up at school. Friday afternoon, I'm going to start organizing the 500 pictures I just had developed from Moldova, Thailand, Jenna's birthday etc.

Speaking of Thailand, I got those pictures back and was immediately struck by nostalgia. With all that has gone on since I returned from Thailand, I had forgotten how exciting it was. Looking at the pictures, I remembered and can't wait to get back there.

Well, I'm about ready to go to bed, but I'll definitely post more tomorrow after we return home!

The County Fair

So, after we got back from Alabama, we went to the last night of the county fair. We used to go to a neighboring county, but this is year 3 (I think) of a county fair right here in our back yard. For those of you not in this region of the country, last week, we had 4 consecutive days of 100+degree weather, so we were prepared to really sweat it out and basically be miserable.

But, we were going with Rachel and her family and so Jenna was so excited to have Hannah to ride stuff with. I have to admit, having someone to ride with her is easier on us to. We started with having dinner at the fair. And you really can't beat fair food. I had a big long corn dog and a fried corn on a stick. They take that corn, shuck it and then dip it in a huge vat of melted butter. Oh yeah!

As you can tell, Jenna and Hannah rode several things (some things twice) and had a blast doing it. The picture is of the little roller coaster they had in the children's area. As you can see, Hannah is holding on for dear life and Jenna's got her hands in the air! By the end of the night, at the second ride, both of them had their hands in the air. Poor Hannah...if she hangs around Jenna much, she'll turn into a little dare-devil like her. Heavens forbid. Mama Ann would kill me! This from the mother of the 3 year old who rode the mechanical bull at the fair a few years ago!!!

Anyway, there was so much fun to be had and the girls (and Steve) enjoyed a rainbow colored Sno-Cone...for those of you unfamiliar with those, it's basically a bunch of ice with a little flavored water. David and I enjoyed a deep fried Twinkie! Oh yeah! We had such a good time that we intend to make it an annual event for our families.

Our Alabama Vacation

So, we are finally home from our vacation to Alabama. It was a great trip. The girls had fun. I was surprised to learn that Jenna could swim like a fish! We bowled, went to the bounce place, and the girls played and had a good time.

On Friday, Steve, Jenna and I went to the Space Museum. It was a nice break, but it was not as exciting as I remembered when I went as a kid. Jenna was a little too young to appreciate the historical value and it cost us almost $60 to get in. The Imax movie we saw was pretty cool, but Jenna was over it about 10 minutes into it.

I will report that out of the four of us bowling, 2 adults and 2 children, none of us will be on the Pro-bowler's tour anytime soon. I tried to remind Steve that this is the main reason I don't bowl with him!!!

The girls played well for the most part. There's about an 18 month difference between them but you couldn't tell. Take a look at these two silly girls in their dress up stuff...and let me just say this is just ONE of the several outfits they modeled for us during the week.

Kylene and I got alot of time to catch up too, which was so nice! For those of you who don't know, Kylene and I met when we working at Orion together. I was off on my honeymoon when Kylene was hired in. Not sure what it was that attracted us, but she was engaged to be married on August 10, which was our original date before we moved it up. That was back in 1996, and we've been friends ever since. We've had our ups and downs, but mostly ups and there's not a lot I can't tell Kylene. I think a girl is lucky to say she has at least one friend like that in her life. So, I feel blessed to say I actually have several and Ky is one of them.

I sure do miss being with her, but lots of exciting things in store for the week and that keeps me from missing her too much! She moved from Mt. Juliet to Alabama in spring this year and it's

been hard. But it's only an hour from exit to exit, so it won't be too bad. We are planning another quick visit in September for a wedding.

More from Madison Alabama!

Well, I've been scolded again for not updating my blog more often. But my stay here at The Jones' home has been relaxing (for the most part!), so there's really nothing to update!

Yesterday, we got up early and went to the indoor swimming pool. I guess we swam for a couple hours and it really was a fun time. The girls got along well and Jenna surprised me by swimming all over the place! I couldn't believe my eyes. The two weeks at the YMCA must have really done some good. I have video of Jenna swimming, but I can't load it up as I'm using Kylene's laptop. Couldn't figure out how to get my laptop up on her wireless network. Weird...Anyway...yesterday, we swam until about 11:00 and then came home and ate lunch. We made the girls rest for a couple hours while the baby was down (Kylene's, not mine!) and after everyone got up, I got Jenna and myself bathed/showered and we headed out to do some errands at Walmart. While we were there, we decided to treat ourselves to Schlotsky's instead of cooking when we got home. We had a good night. Kylene's husband was out of town, so it was just us girls. We went to bed earlier than before and got a good night's rest.

This morning, Kylene had to work at the church from about 8:30 until 12:30. She took the baby with her, but I kept the older girls. We played a few games, watched a little TV and then had lunch. Once Kylene got home, we took the girls bowling. It was fun. Jenna is napping right now, which is a first for this week. Tomorrow, we are going to the jumpy place and then Steve will be joining us tomorrow night. I think that will be fun too. Friday, Steve, Jenna and I are going to the Space Center. Friday night, we are watching the girls so Kylene and her husband can go out for their anniversary. It's sort of our payment for them letting us crash their house all week and upset their lives...

Oh, and one other tidbit of information that has nothing to do with our vacation...Jenna's decided she wants to take either violin or piano lessons. I'm a little hesitant because I think she's young, but the music teacher at school said that violin can be taught without knowing how to read so we are going to try that for a semester and see how it goes. I think we'll try to go through BWAC at church first, but if they don't have available times for us, we'll go through the school. They are both the same price for the same amount of lessons, so it will come down to who can actually accomodate our schedule.

That's it for now...I'll post pictures and videos when I get home.

S-

Greetings from Madison, Alabama!

Today, Jenna and I traveled to Madison, Alabama to visit with my friend Kylene and her daughter Mady. The trip was an easy one. Took us just over 2 hours and that is with stopping and eating for lunch and stopping at the bathroom also.

We arrived after 1pm and this afternoon and evening, we've just let the girls play and kind of caught up on news of our lives. Tomorrow we plan to go to the swimming pool which will thrill Jenna to death.

I will admit, I'm a little worried about the rest of the week because as well as the girls get along, they have already had a tiff or two and I wonder how long it will take until Jenna is ready to go home and Mady ready to get rid of her! In all honesty, Jenna probably plays better with Madyson than any other child...well, I mean, longer without getting into an argument...She was just ecstatic to be coming to see Mady. It's all I've heard about for the past 2 months and almost daily in the last 2 weeks. But Jenna just loves to play with all of her friends and I guess then that takes us back to Jenna's intense desire for friends...

I can't believe that in a little over a week she'll be back in school as a pre-1st student! I'm already totally into her teacher, Ms. Seay and can't wait to see everything she'll learn.

Well, I'm going to go check on this little prisses...

Feeling like "Mother of the Year"

OK, so you mothers out there will appreciate this story...

YMCA camp called me this afternoon saying that Jenna was complaining of a sore throat. I knew that she'd mentioned it briefly and in passing a couple days before, but I wouldn't call it "complaining". I talked to Jenna and she said it was just hurting "a little" and she didn't need to go see Dr. Mary (which is how I can tell if she's really feeling bad). I told her that if Daddy came by and she decided not to stay at camp, then she'd HAVE to go see Dr. Mary.

Well, a few minutes later, Steve called and said she was leaving camp. I was in a bind at this point because I really didn't feel she was sick because she wasn't achy, feverish, coughing, congested, runny or feeling bad in general. But because I told her I was going to call the doctor if she left camp, I did and just asked if they could run a quick strep test just to be safe.

As many of you know, when it comes to Jenna being sick (or Steve for that matter), I can't stand it. I will run her to the doctor as often as they will let me just so I can satisfy my paranoia that she's perfectly fine less some allergies and sinus infections. I figured she was just having "Daddy Withdrawal" since Steve's just been back a day and then went to work today. But, again, I remembered that she'd mentioned her throat in passing in the past few days and I knew if I didn't take her and she came down with a horrible cold or strep, I'd feel like a loser mom.

So, off we go...we got to see Nurse Libby (who we LOVE!). Told her what the problem was and she looked at her throat. She said she didn't have strep, but would do a swab anyway. I told Nurse Libby that I'd taken her off her Singulair because we were out of refills and since we were coming in for her 6 year check in 2 weeks, I thought I'd see how she did on the Zyrtec alone and discuss it at her checkup. She did say her throat looked a little "yucky" probably from drainage caused by stopping the Singulair. So, off she went with the big cotton swab.

Dr. Mary came in (who, by the way is the BEST pediatrician in the state of Tennesee...) :) She was asking Jenna questions, how she felt, how her summer was going and as always just going on and on about how beautiful and big she was. Jenna, as usual, was eating it up. Then, there's a knock at the door and it's Nurse Libby holding the strep test...two blue lines...much to EVERYONE'S suprise (and for the first time ever) she has strep throat!!! You could have blown the nurse and doctor down with a feather, but oddly enough, I just wanted to CHEER! It's like for once, my paranoia paid off!!!! And, I know with an infection, I get an antibiotic and can "fix" her. They just couldn't believe it because she was acting so normal. She said either we caught it really early (kudos to me) or it was just a very mild case. She even said she could go to camp tomorrow because she's not contagious. It's weird, but I felt like I had that mother's intuition and it paid off because I potentially kept her from becoming a very sick little lady right before we are making a weekend trek to Atlanta AND a week in Alabama staying with our friends the Jones'.

That's my story. And if you are a paranoid mom, it's your story too. Score 1 for the PARANOID MOMS!!!

Home Sweet Home

We finally got Steve home last night about 7:30pm. Well, we didn't actually get HOME until nearly 9pm, but his plane landed around 7:30.

He left JFK at 8:30 en route to Raleigh/Durham. Their flight arrive in RDU at about 10:50am and the flight to Cincinnati was supposed to leave about 11:10am. The airlines told them there was a 2:30 flight leaving that would still get them into Nashville at 5pm which would keep them from having to race to meet the Cincy plane and give them just a little more than an hour layover in Cincy. So, they took it and got a meal AND $400 travel voucher for their trouble. 2:30 rolls around and they are going to be delayed "a few minutes, but they would still make their connection" in Cincy. Well, 90 minutes later and their flight was ready to leave, but at the time they were leaving Raleigh/Durham, their flight leaving Cincinnati was departing. Needless to say, they missed it. Before they left RDU, they confirmed them on the 9pm flight from Cincinnati to Nashville. When they finally reached Cincinnati, the very nice Delta attendant booked them right away on the earlier, 7pm flight to Nashville. Rachel, Hannah, Jenna and I were at the airport early, found the luggage which was all there (amazingly enough) and then went upstairs to meet the men. They came dragging off the plane and there was Jenna and Hannah holding a "Welcome Home Daddy" sign. It was the best part of the week in my opinion!

Steve was home today and resting, but it's back to work tomorrow. We've had some time to talk about the trip and he says he would definitely do it again. I'm about to upload his photos and I'll post some later this week with the stories behind them.

Thanks for your constant prayers and support while I was a single mom. What I learned was that if ever I was faced with being single again (heaven forbid) I am strong enough to do it, but given the choice, I DON'T WANT TO!!!!

S

Tomorrow...

Well, looks like it will be tomorrow before Steve gets home. And not just tomorrow, but tomorrow night about 5pm! The flight he and David are confirmed on leaves JFK at 8:30am, but flies to Raleigh-Durham, then Cincinnati and then into Nashville. Unless by some miracle they get an earlier flight from Cincinnati, they are due to be in at 5:07pm. Tonight they are staying at a Clarion Inn in Queens, NY.

Such a pity to be right in the Big Apple and not able to sightsee. Although at this point, they are all so tired and punch drunk, not many of them would care anything about sightseeing. Steve said he was NOT going to get postcards from Raliegh Durham or Cincinnati! I had encouraged him to at least get postcards from the airports he went to (Moldova, JFK and Budapest) because it counts as "been there" if he gets a postcard. Plus, it will go into his Moldova scrapbook that I'm going to make him.

Anyway, that's the story. Keep the prayers coming. I won't feel at ease until his plane hits the tarmack at BNA!

Not tonight... :(

Well, it doesn't appear Steve's going to make it home tonight. :( :( :(

At about 3:30 today, I decided to check online and make sure there were no delays in the flight from JFK to Nashville. As soon as I signed on to the Delta homepage, there was an "advisory" stating many flights had been canceled due to weather. Immediately I knew...sure enough, I searched for his flight number and in big RED letters was the word, "CANCELED". UGH.

It's a repeat of what happened to us in Thailand. You fly half way across the world and get so close to home and then you are unable to make it the rest of the way. What's even more frustrating is that when I saw it, I was unable to reach Steve as he was still in the air. I immediately called Rachel (whose husband David is also on the trip) and she totally sympathized. Can I say what a blessing it is to have someone understand your disappointment? Thank God for her.

Anyway, I went ahead and left Steve a voice mail on his cell to warn him and also let him know that I was OK. I knew he'd worry about me after my complete meltdown in Chicago trying to get home from Thailand. I finally got a text from him saying he had landed safely and would call soon. However, at this point, I haven't heard anything from him. After I talked to Rachel and calmed down inside a little, I went into survival mode thinking of all the RE-arrangements that had to be made. I'll be fine...just another night in bed with Jenna I guess!

I'm off to eat Mexican (my favorite comfort food!) with Rachel and Hannah. Hopefully soon we'll know when we'll see our MEN. I'll update you all later...but don't stop praying...

S-

Horseback Riding and Mittens

OK, I'm going to try and upload some video of Mittens the kitten (oh, good grief...I didn't realize how that sounded until just now).

This was done today. He's already getting bigger...he might weigh 1.5 pounds now!! :) He is a little thing as you can see by Jenna's tiny stuffed animal next to him.


Horseback riding was fun, but it went fast. When I was a youth, we'd go for what seemed like a couple hours or so. This time, it was only 45 minutes. Jenna wasn't ready to stop, but I was because being in the saddle with another person is just tight.


I finally finished mowing the grass. It took a while because I kept having to stop and rest, but I finally got it done. It's about 95 degrees here, so we are now showered and clean and about to go ruin our dinner with some ice cream!

Texted Steve earlier and he is trying to stay up until about 4am Moldova time when they have to leave for the airport. Tonight will be my last night sleeping alone (well, with Jenna I mean!)

Moldova-the last day

Well, it's Steve's last day in Moldova. As I type this, it's Saturday afternoon there. I am sure there is excitement to be coming home, but deep sadness to be leaving the children they've grown to love. Continue to pray for the team as they head back...for safety and peace of mind. By the way, I did talk to Steve today and they were somewhere getting ice cream for the kids at the orphanage. He's doing well. Said he's taken about 250 pictures and I can't wait to see every one!

Jenna and I are getting ready to head out to Cedars of Lebanon for a little horseback riding. We were going to make a day of it and picnic there afterwards as well as swim and play in the park, but our friends Rachel and Hannah aren't able to go with us, so we are going to ride and then come back home. I have a few things to do around the house before Steve gets home, so I need to get that taken care of.

Well, if we are going to be in Lebanon on time, I'd better head out. More later!

S

Update from Moldova...

Be sure and check out www.sweetsleep.blogspot.com. Steve posted the latest blog (I think it's the latest...someone might have posted after him). I was not able to contact Steve this morning and it worried me a little. I finally did talk to him around lunch and he had left his cell phone at the guest house. I actually got to talk to him instead of through texting. He said he missed us and was ready to come home. He also mentioned that he had asked someone the cost of adoption from Russia, more specifically, Moldova and they said it would be about $40k. YIKES! He said a little girl there about 10 years old asked if there were any Americans that would want to adopt a 10 year old girl and when they said they didn't know, she got upset and went away in tears. How sad. Here Jenna is begging for a little sister...perhaps she's take a big sister???? :)

Anyway, as excited as I am to have Steve coming home in a few days, it will be hard for him to leave these children I'm sure. And hard to adjust to being home and remembering the situations these people live in. Continue to keep those prayers coming please. I know he'll appreciate it.

Jenna and I went to eat at my sister, Teresa's, house tonight. Jenna's cousin Garrett was there and they played and just had a great time. It was nice because now that we live here and they live in Cane Ridge, we don't get as much time together as when we were living down the street from one another. And I enjoyed the adult company. I love Jenna, but I like to talk with other adults too! We got home and I have put Jenna to bed. Right now, Mittens is laying on my chest just purring away. Soon as I'm done here, I'll read a little and get on to bed. Sounds game is tomorrow night. Saturday is horseback riding and Jenna can't wait.

Again, please go to www.sweetsleep.blogspot.com and read Steve's post. Thanks for your prayers this week.

S

1/2 way there!

OK, it's Wednesday night and we are halfway into our week without Daddy! I got a couple texts today from Steve. Seems that it has cooled down just a bit and they got finished a little early today, so they were going to rest. From the blog, it appears that they are having lots of chicken and potatoes in various forms. I'm glad to hear that because Steve is probably the pickiest one of our little family, so I was worried about what he would eat to keep his blood sugar up.



In one of my texts, I asked him if his sugar was OK and he said no problems, so I'm thankful for that. One of the sweet ladies that are traveling with them have been "mothering" him. I'm eternally grateful because I think I, myself, can give my dear mother-in-law a run for her money in the mothering department. I am very protective of Steve and I know it annoys him sometimes.



Last night, Jenna and I visited with Rachel and Hannah. Hannah's Daddy is also in Moldova with Steve. They live in Spring Hill, so it was a nice couple hours of pizza and playing. After we got home and got Jenna in bed, I finished reading Harry Potter (it was great!), but I suffered because I stayed up until 11:30 to do it. It hasn't been difficult to get up in the mornings like I thought it would be, but I've dragged the whole day. Tonight, I plan to get in bed a little early or at least on time at 10.



Steve said today they painted the playground...guess they must be done with the beds already. He texted me at 9:30 our time (which is 5:30 there time) and said they were in for the evening. They'd finished early and took food to one of the families. He also said they visited a nursing home and it was very bad and sad conditions there. I can't even imagine.

On another note, we did make it to the vet with the kitten yesterday. He is in great health and looks to be a long haired cat. He got a couple shots and weighed in at a whopping 1.2 pounds! He is a little tiny ball of fur. But, she said there would be no problem in keeping him with the two adult female cats already in our house. He's right about 6 weeks old, so in counting backwards, that would be right around Jenna's birthday, so we decided his birthday is also going to be June 15. And we have an official name....in keeping with our "M" theme, our new little guy will be "Mittens". We finally narrowed it down to Mittens, Murphy, Magic, Mikki (pronounced like Mickey) and one other (the name escapes me at the moment)...I wrote them all down on a piece of paper and Jenna drew. We agreed whatever we drew was it. So...Mittens it was. And we both really liked that name, so there you go!

I got some stuff accomplished today, but not going to list it here in case Steve is reading the blog. I want it to be a surprise.

OK, it's 8:15 and I was supposed to have Jenna in the bed at 8. So, away we go!

S-

Moldova-Day 1

Steve texted me today and said he was staining beds for the kids at the orphanage. He said it was very hot and when I checked the weather for there, it said 100 degrees and that was at about late afternoon their time, so you can imagine how hot it was during the heat of the day.

I told him to be sure and drink lots of water to stay hydrated and he said there wasn't much else to drink. Ah, yes...we encountered that in Thailand...a little different in the sodas there than here and I'm sure he's already missing his Pepsi. :)

This afternoon, I got a text from him saying they'd had a long day and he was headed for bed. Here is his text: "Hey we've had a long day. We were in the shade most of the day but I did fine. I drank a two lt (liter) bottle of water. I'm very tired. It's sad to see these kids. They just want attention. I was throwing ball with a girl aboutr 4 or 5. Very cute. I asked if I could bring her home. Getting ready for bed. I miss u both. Love u." I'm sure he will have many stories about these orphans when he returns. Remember to pray for these children as well as the volunteers that are over there.

As for Jenna and I, we made it another night alone. Jenna says at least 2-3 times a day that she misses Steve and I wonder if he really knows how much she loves him. I know sometimes he feels like she's a Mama's girl, but deep down, I know better.

We got up this morning and headed to 2 weeks of camp at the YMCA. Got her dropped off and to work. Tomorrow is a big day as we have a vendor in all day. This afternoon after I got her picked up, I stopped at the Quick Lube place and got my van's oil changed. There's no telling what else I might do this week...

That's about it. Thanks for your prayers and well wishes...continue to pray and check the Sweet Sleep blog at www.sweetsleep.blogspot.com .

"So They Can Sleep"....

S-

"So they can sleep..."

Well, Steve has arrived safely in Moldova. PRAISE GOD! I don't know why, but I was a nervous wreck waiting to make sure he arrived there. I think I mentioned his flight from Nashville to JFK was delayed by about 90 minutes but when the flight finally left, it was uneventful. They were supposed to have a layover of about 2 hours in NY, but that turned into about 6 I think. They finally left JFK headed to Budapest. I got a call at 4am our time that he'd landed safely there. I think I slept the last 3 hours of the morning better than the previous just to know his long leg of the flight was over. It was a very brief conversation given the time (and the cost of $3.50 PER MINUTE!). He was supposed to call me before he got back on the flight into Moldova, but he didn't. I woke up about 7am and couldn't go back to sleep despite staying up until almost 11pm. I finally tried to call his cell about 7:30 knowing even if they had landed, the phone wouldn't work. I had spend quite some time on the phone with "the new AT&T" on Friday and was told that while there were cell towers in Moldova and there was a signal, the phone Steve had was more advanced than the tower there and the bandwidth wouldn't work. So, we didn't expect to have any phone conversation once he left Budapest. However, while Jenna and I were eating breakfast, my phone dinged and I had a text from him stating they were on the ground in Moldova! I was so excited! I texted him back and he received it and said we could text, but he couldn't call out.

Jenna and I finished eating and headed off to church. I thought I might try to call his cell just to see what would happen and much to my PLEASANT surprise, HE ANSWERED! I think he was just as surprised as I was. The connection wasn't the best, but I certainly could hear him and him hear me. We again, spoke briefly and he was able to talk to Jenna. He sounded so good. In the days leading up to his leaving, he expressed several times about his uncertainty about going. Well, it wasn't "going", it was more or less leaving Jenna and I behind. And he sounded just normal until I spoke with him upon his arrival in Moldova. And there he sounded excited and happy. He said it was very hot, but he was laughing and cutting up with the others and that just thrilled my soul.

I have a feeling that Steve is about to experience way more than I ever thought I could in Thailand. It's one thing to go to a modern, westernized country like Thailand and stay in a 4 star hotel with air conditioning, eating at Amercian restaurants, working with missionaries from the US AND where everyone speaks English. It's quite another to go to a third world country, stay in a guest house, work in th 100 degree heat, work with kids who have no parents to speak of and have to use an interpreter and eat no telling what! I can't imagine what God is going to do in Steve's life this week (as well as the other volunteers). And I'm praying all the while that Steve is open to the changes in his life. To all of you who are praying...thank you. Words can't express how appreciative I am (as the one "left behind") for your prayers especially for his safety.

OK, so, yesterday after my last post, Jenna watched TV and I read some of my Harry Potter book. Doesn't look like I'm going to have it finished by tonight...it's 700+ pages and I don't have as much time to devote to it being a single parent as I would if Steve were here. But I finally put the book down and got showered and ready to go to Hannah's birthday party. We left and made a couple stops on the way and arrived on time. We were there until 6pm and then Jenna started getting antsy to get home to the kitten, who has migrated from "Lovey" to "Tiger", to "Marshmallow" to now, "Smoky". Not sure where we'll end up on that. I might try and figure out how to get a survey on here to let you all vote for your favorite...Last night we just sat around and watched TV and read.

I put Jenna to bed in her bed because if I'm not sleeping with Steve, I prefer to sleep alone as does Jenna. But by my bedtime, I started hearing noises and getting really lonely, so when I went to bed, I carried her there with me. It was comforting to have her there rather than down the hall.

Church was good today, although I felt weird being by myself in Sunday School. I can tell you right now, I'm NO GOOD at being single. I guess that's why God introduced Steve and I before I had the chance to move out on my own, alone. After church, my dear, dear friends the Morgans asked us to lunch. I originally thought we'd just come home and eat, but after we went (yummy Mexican), I was so glad we went. Now that we are home, I've cleaned the kitchen, moved the garbage to the street and started the laundry. Now, we are again, watching TV and I'm about to read. It's 5:30 and I'm not yet hungry for dinner, but think we'll have Mexican Casserole tonight. I made a list of things to do this week while Steve's gone. I won't mention them here as some of them will be a surprise for Steve when he gets back (not the carpet, honey!)...

So, all this to say, nearly 2 days down and 6 more to go. This week will be over before we know it and I will be thrilled to have him home in bed with me again.

OK, more time for Potter. Until next time...

P.S. Don't forget to check the blog... www.sweetsleep.blogspot.com for updates on his trip. There are several posts there already for the team...

S-

Steve-if you are reading this, Jenna and I miss you and love you so much. We are so proud of you for hearing God's call and being faithful to answer! LOVE YOU and be safe!

It's a boy! A departure and arrival!

It's a boy!
The kitten is officially a boy. We ran by the vet's office right before they closed to let them do an age and gender check and she said I was right...it's a boy and he's about 5-6 weeks old. He's quite fluffy, but underneath all the hair, it's mostly skin and bones. Unfortunately, he has fleas, so I bought flea meds for him and the two big cats...Maggie and Molly. Jenna's decided since we know he's a boy, we'll call him Tiger for his stripes, but I think we should think of an "M" name to go with Maggie and Molly (Mack and Missy dogs). We're about to surf the net to see if anything else suits him. Stay tuned...

A Departure...
As I type, Steve is in the air on his way to JFK airport and my life as a single mom has begun. He called about a half hour ago to say he was boarding the plane (which was 20 minutes late already). From JFK, he'll fly to Budapest and then from there to Moldova. I'll keep you posted on his goings on. So far, so good. He said he forgot his check card, but he has cash and the card was only in case of an emergency which I'm praying doesn't happen!

An Arrival..
Of course, I'm talking about the last Harry Potter book! After I dropped Steve off, I stopped by my brother's house and then my dad's and then we came home. On our way out of the house to the vet, I ran by the mailbox and it was already here! YES! I'm avoiding the internet because I'm afraid there will be spoilers...I'll probably have the book finished by tomorrow night at the latest. So...with that said, I'm off to begin reading.

For those of you that are interested, you can keep up with Steve's group in Moldova through their blog (which Steve will be writing one day this week I think)...it's www.sweetsleep.blogspot.com. Keep those prayers coming!

The time is near...

...for Steve to take off for Moldova and boy am I in a F-O-U-L mood. I'm sure it has to do with him leaving. I just don't even want to think about it. Again, it's not that I'm not confident in my ability to parent without him...I just...don't want him to go is about the extent of it.

I know he's doing a great thing and I know he'll be fine and we'll be fine, but I just can't get out of this mood. I'm grouchy with him, Jenna and everyone in between. Of course, we've had a pretty interesting turn of events in the house this afternoon.

Yep...that's a kitten you see. He's (at least we *think* it's a "he") a sweet little thing. Steve said he showed up early this week at his office. He was scared of everyone and wouldn't get near them. Steve was afraid he was going to starve to death. Or worse, die in the heat (it was near 100 degrees this week). So, Tuesday, he went out to Publix and got some food and he came right over. He gobbled the food up, but then he disappeared for a day or two. Steve figured he'd wandered off into the woods behind the office and became dinner for some larger animal. But apparently he got hungry again and showed up today. Of course, Steve, the man who "hates cats" just couldn't leave him there today because he knew no one would feed him while he was gone and he didn't want to think of the little guy starving to death. So, when I got home, I came upstairs to this site.

Jenna is smitten. She's never been around a little baby animal before. Our cats and dogs were here long before she came along. Like any small child, she wants to touch, hold and carry this cat everywhere. We are threatening her in order to convince her to leave him alone. He's pretty thin and dirty. I need to get him to the vet next week if possible. Like we have the money for that. I haven't decided whether we are going to keep him or not. Our other two cats, Maggie and Molly are nowhere to be seen. They are off pouting somewhere.

I'm torn. I don't know what to do. I'm tempted to put him on Craig's list. I had a pretty good response from my other stuff, so why not? Well...for one, Jenna is going to be heartbroken if we get rid of him. But she will get over it quickly enough. I mean, I can put it out there and if I get no hits, then we can keep him. I just really don't want another cat. I always said if I had another cat, I'd adopt an adult one from the shelter and here I am with a kitten again. Of course, the good deed is that we saved him from certain death... And now Steve's leaving in less than 12 hours and leaving me with this decision to make. And without him here to distract Jenna, there's no way to slide this past. We'll see. Right now, she's calling him "Lovey" but she says she also likes "Tiger" because he has stripes on him.

Well, I'll keep you as posted as I can on all that develops this week while Steve's gone. You that are praying folks, keep us all in your prayers.

4 Days and Counting...

Steve leaves in 4 days. I already feel like I'm going to cry. I think about having to sleep in that bed alone for a week or more and I just cringe. My friend, Rachel, made a good point in that the weekends are the slowest. This weekend we don't have much planned because we have to drop Steve off at the airport (another one of those things that make me cringe!) I think his flight leaves about 11am, so we'll have to drop him off no later than 9am. Jenna and I are planning to go visit my brother and then my dad while I'm on that side of town. Then it's home to relax for a while and later that day we are going to celebrate "little Hannah's" birthday at McDonald's playland. I was thinking that Sunday afternoon, we might go to the park and have a picnic. I'm not sure about that yet. We might go to a matinee movie instead.

Friday before Steve comes home, we are going to the Nashville Sounds game. It's Faith Night and also fireworks night. I hope we can make it that long because Jenna loves the fireworks. Saturday afternoon I'm planning to take Jenna horseback riding...not sure where yet...having a time trying to find a reputable place.

To add to the fun, I have a couple of crafty things I want to try. I guess I think I'm going to have all this free time, but that's probably not going to be how it is. I will have some quiet time at night after Jenna goes to bed. I'm not much of a TV watcher. I'm into watching all the episodes of The Wonder Years right now so I'll watch an hour of those, but other than that, I'll mostly read, surf the net and catch up on my magazines. Saturday is when the last Harry Potter book comes out and I have pre-ordered from Amazon, so it's guaranteed to arrive that day. I'm oddly enough looking forward to it!

Well, I have to get busy helping Steve pack or else he will be going to Moldova with an empty suitcase!

I've grown up.

When did THIS happen???? I realized this afternoon while standing over my washer and dryer that somewhere along the way, I'd grown up. The realization was a total bummer.

A series of events led me to this realization...first of all, I've been worried sick about finances all summer long. With paying tuition over 12 months and then the additional cost of camp during the summer, we are barely scraping by and we typically live very comfortably. When I was a kid, it was my mom and dad who did the worrying about money. Now...it's me. UGH. That's definitely no fun.

Then yesterday, I woke up before everyone else (another bad sign) and my thought was, "I want to clean out the garage today". Yah? What is THAT about? We will have been in this house for 2 years in October this year and I still had one corner of the garage to go through boxes and clean out. And I wanted to use my Saturday to do this. And that's EXACTLY what I did. I guess I got started about 10am. And I quit about 6pm. The garage is definitely neater, but there's still some stuff that I gotta get rid of. I have a huge amount of 2T and 4T clothes, a karate punching bag and some strollers to find homes for. I put them all on Craigs List and believe it or not, the punching bag is gone. I have a meeting with a lady on Tuesday for the 4T clothes and might have a bite on the 2T clothes. Anyway, I digress...

So, after I finished cleaning the garage, I had to go inside and clean the house where I'd dumped all the boxes and stuff that came inside. I think I finally sat down about 9pm and put in Coyote Ugly from Netflix. I fell into a restless sleep until I woke up this morning.

And today...went to church (drove separately), grabbed some lunch, then dropped Steve back at the church for his last meeting before leaving for Moldova. Jenna and I stopped by Best Buy to pick up something Steve needed for his trip. Then home to finish cleaning the kitchen. I threw a load of laundry in then left to get groceries before Steve went to bowl. (breathe) Got back, unloaded the groceries and put them away all the while putting laundry in the dryer and more in the washer. Steve left to bowl and I did some pictures of the clothes for Craigslist and sent them to the interested parties. Then I made 2 chicken pot pies and some cookies...one pot pie for us for dinner tomorrow and the other (and the cookies) for a family in our Sunday School class that just had a baby. Got Jenna some dinner, put a DVD on for her, finally sat down about 8:40pm for a bite of dinner myself. Finished that and got Jenna in bed and sat down to relax and...FOLD THE 4 LOADS OF LAUNDRY I JUST DID! (big breath here).

And somewhere along the way, I realized I'd grown up into a full fledged adult who if she doesn't do the dishes, laundry, clean the kitchen, feed the fish, answer emails etc., then it just won't get done. On the contrary, Steve does more than his fair share of the work around here...he mowed and weed eated the grass yesterday, cleaned the deck and helped me clean out the garage. He leaves in 6 days and he hasn't packed the first thing for his trip. That's one thing I haven't done yet is make him a packing list. Maybe I can do that tomorrow during lunch at work...

You know, I'm not sure I like this growing up thing.

Not one little bit.

A Child's Prayer

For the first time, I can't do it. I can't make my child happy...here's the story:

During our sermon last Sunday, our pastor, Mike Glenn, stepped on our toes in talking about getting families to pray together. So, beginning Sunday night (again) we started praying together as a family. Every night so far, when Jenna has prayed, she has said something along these lines, "Dear God, thank you for this day and please, PLEASE give me a baby sister. Mommy and Daddy both have to work and I really want to play with someone. So, please, PLEASE give me a baby sister." Ouch.

The first night, it bothered me, but I figured it was just a passing thought...you know how kids are. But night after night, she's said the same thing. And so I began to think about it. Jenna has friends at school. In fact, we are told by her teachers that she is friends with all the kids and doesn't gravitate to any one or two. I thought that was good...she's just an all around friendly kid. But then, when there are parties, several of the kids spend the night with other kids and their parents are going on vacation with the others etc. We are normally not in any of those groups. At church it's the same way. She's friendly with all the kids, but there's not one she always gravitates to. Same way in the neighborhood.

But when it comes to those places, she is what I call "desperate for friends". She BEGS us at church and at home to go to other kids' houses, play with them, spend the night. Like I remember a time not so long ago where I stopped by a friend from Sunday School's house to look at some clothes she was going to put in consignment. She has a little girl a few years older than Jenna. While we were there only a 1/2 hour at the most, she was instantly all about the little girl. They played while I looked and for a day or two after we visited, she talked constantly about going back to see the girl, spending the night with her, asking her over, going to her house etc. She just became obsessed with seeing her again. And that's the way it goes.

And then comes this prayer...this constant prayer. Every night. For a sister. Or a brother. I think she'd take either one at this point. And like most parents, there's not anything I wouldn't get, buy, find or fetch for my child. I would go to the ends of the earth for her. There's not anything I wouldn't do to make her happy.

Except this. I can't give her this. I can't even come close. And I have no idea what to do.

I've come far enough to know that this hasn't happened for us because it's just not the Lord's will. But how do you explain that to a child? How do you explain that a God who loves us, answers our prayers and wants the best for us could answer "no" to her request? Shoot-I'm not sure *I* understand God's will with this much less trying to explain it to her.

I think of myself when I was her age and even older. Living in a neighborhood with no kids my age, I had no siblings, all my friends from school lived "far away" in Antioch, so it was "too far to drive" to go to their houses most of the time. And here, I've re-created this same life, same longing, in my child.

There's no way I can express how it breaks my heart to hear my child ask for something that I can't give her. The thought has crossed my mind to adopt a child just to give her someone to play with! This isn't so much about my wanting a child anymore...it's about not being able to give the child I DO have something she wants...I can't give her this.

But God can.

I know that God can answer any prayer.

And He might answer hers yet.

Poppop turns 80 and other celebrations!

Sounds kind of like a Curious George episode doesn't it? :) I haven't posted in a while and have lots to catch up on! So, here goes...we'll do this in chronological order...

Happy Birthday Debbie!

My sister, Debbie, had a birthday on July 3. I don't really know how old she is and even if I wanted to sit here and figure it out, I'm sure she appreciates me not announcing it to the world on my blog. Not to mention, I saw here (and much of my other family last night) and didn't bring her Thailand souvenir or her birthday gift. I'm such a loser! She brought my gift and it turned out to be the book by Randy Alcorn entitled "Heaven" which I had in my hands to buy yesterday afternoon, but didn't. Little does she know it was a book Steve had gotten interested in also, so she actually killed two birds with one stone! Anyway, Happy Birthday Debbie! Sorry it's late in coming (on all accounts).

Happy Birthday Steve!

As many of you know, Steve's birthday is on July 4, so I had the privilege of having the day off with him (as I do every year!) We started our day in Pegram where Deanne (Steve's sister) lives. We saw the parade and that's a big hit with Jenna...always getting a bagload of candy...we also had baby Gage with us which was nice for a change. He spent the night on Tuesday, so that was fun (he sleeps through the night of course!) Here's Jenna, Steve and Gage getting ready for the parade.

After leaving Pegram and dropping off Gage, we headed downtown to Riverfront to watch the big fireworks spectacular down there. We sat on the lawn of the Titans Stadium (more recently named LP Field). My former boss, now co-worker, Sherri invited us to join her family there. The fireworks were absolutely awesome. I got some unbelievable pics...But trying to fight the traffic to get out was almost unbearable. The fireworks ended about 10pm and my head hit the pillow at 12:01am. So, you can tell how long it took us to get out and get home. I think we'll probably stay at home next year (after Pegram), cook out with friends and watch the pretty spectacular fireworks from our deck. We did that last year and discovered our neighbor in the next subdivision does a bang up job (pun intended) on his fireworks display.

Happy Birthday Poppop!

"Poppop" is what Jenna calls my dad. Several of the other grandkids call him Pappy and a couple more call him Granddaddy, but Jenna wouldn't do either. She picked Poppop. Poppop turned 80 YEARS OLD on July 5! And to be 80, he has very few health problems (hence living till 80!). He has the run-of-the-mill "old folks" problems like aches and pains, bad teeth (but still his!), shortness of breath (from COPD...smoking most his life, though not anymore) and forgetfulness. But to our knowledge (and trust me, he's see ALL the doctors) he has no heart, blood pressure or stroke problems. It's slightly amazing if you want to know the truth. He's not really taken care of himself that well over the years. But he's made it to 80 which I think is a true milestone! We had dinner with him on Friday night. It was so nice to see him in good spirits and Jenna just loves her Nana and Poppop. We don't get to see them nearly enough. Anyway, it was a nice evening and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

Anything else?

Not really. Steve is starting to prepare for his Moldova trip. He's 2 weeks out now and he's starting to realize he needs to be getting ready and packed. Yesterday we went to BassPro to pick us a gift certificate for Jim (my neice's husband) and since I had "Boat Fever" we looked around at the different boats and compared prices etc. OK, so now STEVE has boat fever too! :) It's not something we want to do this summer, or maybe even next, but perhaps something for the future. Who knows...but it sure was a lot of fun looking for them. We stopped at the book store to see if we could find a "Boating for Dummies" book, but we couldn't, however, I managed to spend $50 on books for me (as if I need more). I bought a couple books that I'd seen on a friend's website. "The Chronological Bible"...it's a read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year Bible but it groups chapters, verses, books together in the time they actually happened. So, the story of David and Bathsheba would be grouped with the Psalms David wrote during that time. I haven't cracked it open yet. It's NIV and I was thinking I might want the NLB or some easier to understand version, so I'm debating on taking it back. I don't think they had anything but NIV at B&N, so I am hesitant to return it and then get a refund and go elsewhere to find it. I also bought several other books and have started reading them.

Oh, and we are already planning our vacation for 2008...A CRUISE! We've been wanting to do this for a while and we have always chosen something else. But we are really planning ahead this time so we can be sure to get it paid for before it's time to go. The best part is that part of my family who lives in Jacksonville, FL are going to most likely join us! We have vacationed with them before (mostly down in JAX) and I can say without hesitation, we enjoyed EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of it! We don't get to see them as often as we'd like and so Steve's about to come out of his skin with excitement at the prospect. I think they enjoy spending time with us too...I know she (Tracey) reads this, so I'm going to wait for an email or comment saying they do before we get too excited! :) Anyway, we are planning for the Western Caribbean in August 2008. We haven't reserved it yet because it takes about $1000 deposit, so we are waiting unti the summer is over to commit to that.

OK, well, it's time to get the rest of the family up and ready for church. I'm showered, dressed and ready to walk out the door (as usual) and neither Steve or Jenna has rolled out of bed yet. Hope you all are having a good weekend and I'll be back later. I'm trying to figure out uploading video from my digital camera, so I'll be back to test that.

And a special parting message for a reader... TATTOO!!!!! You know who you are!

A Dream House

We purchased our dream house this weekend. Well, actually, we purchased Jenna's dream house. Here's a picture of it.

Yes, I'm fully aware that it's a Barbie dream house. But Jenna has wanted one of these since way before her birthday. But believe it or not, these things are expensive and so I didn't want to blow all her birthday budget money on one gift. So, I told her if she would save up half of the money, we'd pay the other half.

I know that doesn't sound like much, but remember, she just turned 6 and 1/2 of this house cost $60. I know none of you mom's of little kids will judge me because you're just as crazy as me for buying mess like this to make your little ones smile.

Anyway, she had about $15 from saving previously (do you know how long it take a 6 year old to save that much money?) and then she got some for her birthday. And after that, it didn't take her long to save the rest. I mean, she's pretty darn helpful around here when she's trying to earn money! Of course, we paid for the taxes and everything, but she did most of it and we were proud.

She has played with it for hours at a time and it's so neat to hear her stories and imagination run wild. I tell you, it's worth every penny I spent to see her exercising her imagination and out from in front of the TV. Awesome!

"Home"

Tonight, we had our Thailand debrief meeting. Can I just tell you how excited I was for this meeting? I couldn't quite put my finger on why...I've definitely enjoyed my Sunday afternoons being free, but I was really excited for the meeting. When I walked into the room with all my fellow volunteers, it felt like I was home and I realized at that moment why I had looked forward to this meeting as I had.

We had several items of business to take care of and one of them was regarding what is known as "re-entry". "Re-entry is similar to culture shock. Sometimes it is called reverse culture shock. In re-entry, you may feel 'out of balance'. You're not the same as when you left so there are some adjustments." There are several ways that one copes with re-entry stress, such as fun or the honeymoon period where you are just excited to be home etc. But the one I identified most with was "Imitate (be re-socialized)" Our handout explained it this way, "This is where you go back to life as it always has been and ignore the changes and struggles you are going through. You resume life as if nothing happened."

Being a preschool worker on this trip, I was unable to participate in the worship services we did for the M's. I continue to hear others speak of how they were let down in our own Sunday worship services after being on such a high in Thailand. The M's rarely (if ever) get to worship like we at BBC do, so when we arrived with our orchestra and worship team, you can just imagine how they soaked up the opportunity. I'm sure it must have been something else to see and be part of. Unfortunately, those of us in preschool had only a 10-15 minute window on one day to see what that was all about. So I really can't understand the "missing worship" part of it or feeling depressed. To me, the worship at BBC was welcome as I'd been 2 entire weeks without it. Interesting that voluteers from the same church can see things totally differently. For me, I came home, went back to work and began my summer routine all over again. But it just doesn't seem the same somehow. Anyway...

They also asked what we learned or what we think God taught us through this trip. The biggest thing for me is being convicted of judging someone because of the way I think they are before getting to know them. I was asked last night who I got to know and like better on the trip. I thought of someone right away. And the funny thing was, I kept adding to the list, telling the inquirer about all the different people from BBC I had not known before, that I know now. Some, a LOT more intimately than before...and how much I LIKE them. People who I sat near in the service or saw in the choir who meant nothing to me are now friends in this journey.

And I think...this is why I felt like I was home tonight in that room. I have formed a family with many of this group. And I won't ever be the same.

Ever.

And I hope I never am.