Mark Your Calendars & Spread the Word!

The Husband and I were just at the State Museum last week with #3 while the other girls were at camp. It is so cool to see the quotes from William Penn about Pennsylvania being a "seed" to the nation. I think it is time to lay down religion that divides and in its place demonstrate the power of a true relationship with God, our loving Father!

And, on a totally random note, didn't I look like I was REALLY sleeping? Because I pretty much was drifting on and off...it was so comfy! :) Ha ha! I also can't help but notice how great The Husband and girls did! We'll work with Brandon any time on any of his projects....what a gifted and talented person he is!

It Feels Like a Brand New Day

And it feels like giving in
It feels like starting over
It feels like waking up, and you know it’s coming
It feels like a brand new day
Open your eyes

Those lyrics are from Jars of Clay "Two Hands". It adequately describes what I have been feeling lately. I alternate between the fear of the unknown, and, yet I am very aware of how safe I am walking in God's will. There have been some struggles lately that threaten to overwhelm me at times. Suspicion, betrayal and anxiety to name a few.......

I hold to the philosophy (if you can call it that) that it is alright to let our kids make mistakes, for them to experience discomfort, disappointment and situations that kick their ducks out of their rows. Now, before you call child services on me, I do not go out of my way to put them in frustrating circumstances such as those, I just try not to "fix" them every time. You have to realize how difficult that is for me....not only out of maternal instinct, but I'm a fixer. Got a problem? I can give you a Plan A, Plan B and possibly even Plans C, D, and Z to work things out. It is a gift. Please. Hold your applause.

So, I had this thought today. If I, a human, parent Biblically, which is my ultimate goal, than why would Father God "fix" all of my disappointments, frustrations and discomfort? Would I be truly healthy if He did? It isn't as if He wants me to suffer any more than I want my own children to suffer. It is heart breaking to see the ones you love go through the pain that life throws at us. But, ultimately, "life" is going to throw that pain out no matter how we receive it. We could sit here and talk all about the fallen, broken world we live in and all the yucky stuff we must endure, but I'm certain that is not the focus God wants us to have. Again, when my kids have a rotten day I don't want to sit there and spend a lot of time feeling bad about it....tomorrow is a new day.

All this random rambling can be wrapped up by saying that certain hurts, memories and situations seem to recirculate in my life from time to time but I feel like it's coming, it feels like a a brand new day. Perhaps, at some point between the last disappointment and suffering He has been at work in me to be more Christ-focused instead of my-feelings-are-hurt-again-focused.

Aaahhhh, that's freedom.......

Oh, Now I Remember.....

...why I don't like exercising to a DVD at home. Sounds so simple, right? I was going to hop on my Wii Fit, but feared it would spit at me, laugh at me or just simply self-destruct since I haven't been on it since February so I went with a Jillian Michaels DVD. I started out good but my Doberman decided when it was time to do push ups that it was some sort of mating call because she dropped her tennis ball and began to do a "love dance" on me. After I shoved her off of me, #3 came out and declared she was hungry. Just wait, Sweetie, Mommy is getting her butt kicked by Jillian Michaels right now. The phone rang. I am not joking! Then, I get everything taken care of and am laying down working on my abs and The Dog is back licking the sweat off of my face....actually she took me by surprise and when I opened my mouth to yell at her she licked me IN my mouth.

Sweet niblets.

So, I have decided to create a realistic exercise DVD that the rest of us common folk can relate to. The instructors will be 25-pounds overweight, gray roots showing and coffee stains on their t-shirts. The camera will capture all angles of their set, including the dust bunnies under the couch and the Sharpay Corvette that should have been put away 3 days ago. I would let a Doberman roam free to randomly lick the sweat off of the participants. And, of course, there will be some sort of multi-tasking circuit involving a phone call and making a Pop Tart while you do jumping jacks. Free with purchase would be a 200 count bottle of ibuprofen.

Yeah, you would buy it wouldn't you?

Good Ole Country Living

As if seeing two snakes this spring hasn't shocked me enough, we discovered a mouse in our laundry room closet at 5am. Coincidentally, the very same closet I hid in during hide-n-seek yesterday. Had I been in the dark closet and the mouse would have made the very bad decision of ....say.....jumping on my head, I'm not sure I would have survived with my wits intact. And surly, the mouse would not have survived the big, terrified lady's thrashing in the dark, crowded closet.

The only comical part of the story was watching The Husband go to battle against the mouse with the shop vac. From my vantage point in the kitchen he looked almost like he was sword fighting. I honestly thought for a moment that he made the whole thing up because he was so dramatically flailing about, but sure enough he scooped up the mouse. He assured me his dramatic flair was really just his desperate attempt to not allow the mouse to escape the closet and go into our (gulp) bedroom. But, I've seen the man try to catch snakes in our yard and his technique is similar....part terror, part determination. Apparently, it works for him.

We debated for about 30 seconds if a mouse can survive being sucked up by a shop vac and live to tell the story. He took it out onto the deck and confirmed that yes, a mouse can survive. As he made his discovery #3 woke up from all the commotion and as he was showing her the mouse it jumped about 4 feet in the air out of the shop vac and ran under the deck.

Oh great.

I am now in the process of sterilizing the closet, removing the contents and either throwing things away or washing and sealing them in my trusty Ziploc bags. Stupid mouse ate all my chocolate marshmallow bunnies that I forgot I bought at Easter and because I have no idea where the little creeper urinated, I had to pitch my box of Splenda. Ew. Ew. Ew.

I guess I'll be researching mouse traps later in the event the mouse decides it was worth the ride in the shop vac to eat my Nutri-grain bars.....

Ready to Get Back in the Saddle Again?

Well, for those of you who thought I had already lost my mind by taking an acting class you'll be even more surprised to know we are considering opening another gourmet coffee/ice cream shoppe. We are only in the talking phase and doing a little research. One thing the research has pointed to is how crazy expensive franchises are, yet, they have their merits.

If you are unaware of our small business history and because my blog does not date back that far (thank goodness because I'm not sure how I could write while I was weeping and gnashing my teeth) we had owned Subway restaurants that were successful, then got brave and decided to sell them and open our own gourmet coffee shop/ice cream cafe. It didn't make it. And upon its death, it took much of our Subway profits with it. You can read a bit more about it here. It has been three years since it closed and my heart still feels a bit broken.

We know that location was a big factor in its demise, but I still worry and fret when I think of the past pain we endured. What if we got a better location and we still don't make it? What if we refinance our house and instead of paying off debt, we invest in a business that we can't live off of?? Yikes! I just can't go there.....ok, I'm going back to my happy place.....there, that's better.

We're praying and looking and talking. And, maybe I've been dreaming just a little bit, too.