Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Randomness

My guy a few years ago on the occasion of his 7th birthday. My mom took the picture.
It's a crisp fall evening in the Ozarks. Our little dab of rain last night was enough to shake a few leaves from their trees and give those of us who are friends with Arthur (arthritis, that is) extra reason to complain. And I have certainly taken advantage of my "complain all you want" pass today. Oh well. Here are a few random thoughts for the day.

1. I am watching Dancing With the Stars this season. I could never be a participant on one of those things. For one, I would feel the need to read all the entertainment blogs and comments about the blogs. I would probably spiral into a deep depression. I would then try to comfort myself with a gallon of Chocolate Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt from Braum's and start writing snarky comments defending myself under the alias 'you ain't all that'...which would lead to more depression and a daily trip to Krispy Kreme. You can tell I have moderation issues. I feel so sorry for Bristol Palin. I think it's sad that so many grown-up people have become so mean spirited. I mean really. It's a show about dancing. Dances with names like 'cha-cha' or jive. They wear ridiculous sparkly costumes and are addicted to the spray tan. Get a grip America. If Bristol Palin wins Dancing with the Stars the sun will still rise and set. Winter will still come. And Starbucks will still charge a ridiculous amount for a latte whatever. Get over it. Just enjoy the Sparkle.

2. They are having a potluck at The Studly Muffin's place of employment tonight. He was the organizer. He is always  the organizer. Which kinda means I am the organizer's assistant. I have spent many Tuesdays picking up pizza, making cakes (or pancakes) and shuffling chili to his work. Can one shuffle chili? I'm not sure. I'll leave it though. A Random Thought means just that. Random. Even if it involves Shuffling Chili. Anyhoo. I've been thinking. Nobody every brings me a doggie bag or invites me. If I am the unofficial Chili Shuffler don't you think I should get at least a in-vite? I'm just sayin'.

3. I had a doctor's appointment today. The waiting room had a pitiful selection of magazines. I looked at a Family Circle that was at least 2 years old. I usually try and take a book. I know about Doctor's appointments. I usually have to take a granola bar, a couple of  books to read and I make sure my phone has full battery capacity. You never know when you're going to have to camp out. I am also a secret people watcher. Have you ever thought about those people in Dr.'s waiting rooms? What are their lives like? What kind of things do they face? I know. A little bit too heavy. One thinks of those things. That all the random germ spreading going on.

4. Josiah and I went to the park today. I had promised him yesterday and wound up not keeping my promise (bad mama!) He loves to swing. He could swing for hours. We were also supposed to go on a nature walk. We did do a nature drive-by. Does that count? We are doing a project with Fall leaves this week. Remember leaf collecting? I saw a cute project on one of my homeschool sites that made really cool art out of fall leaves. Cool and Art usually don't mix together in my universe.

5. I really do love this time of year. But I have a secret. I have to take extra steps not to totally freak out in a big way. I tend to be a bit of a neurotic overachiever in some areas. In other words I don't know when to stop. I always have some project I take one...One that I usually don't give myself enough time to accomplish. Josiah and I are going to start our First Thanksgiving Study this week. I have had to promise myself that I won't try and recreate the first Thanksgiving Feast, weave our own place mats and make a detailed replica of the Mayflower. Girl has to have a limit. Somewhere. I wonder if making little homemade soaps for everyone at our family Thanksgiving this year is too much?

6. One reason it is my favorite time of year is because of my baby boy. Who is will be 9 this month. I can't even express to you what I was feeling 9 years ago at this time. I was terrified and thrilled and excited and a nervous wreck. All at the same time. Adoption is a wonderful thing. It is a scary thing. And an uncertain thing. But it is a wonderful thing. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I were so fortunate. But I count my blessings everyday and at the very top of the list is one Josiah Bevan.

7. I am trying to decide what I am going to take to our Family Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's farm. Mom is trying to keep things low key and simple, but I don't know if I can do that. I am going to have to take the decorations as it is. She doesn't know it yet. You see I have this problem. And it will drive me crazy if we are sitting around the table(s) and everything looks like it's just another day of the year (minus the large Turkey and my Dad wearing a shirt to the dinner table). We need to have pumpkins and fake leaves lying around. I draw the line though at decorating the TV area for The Studly Muffin and my brother-in-law, Greg's football watching marathon. If they want Team Pendants and pompoms they will have to do it themselves.


That's all for today, friends. It's my goal this week to write a post about Josiah's adoption. I don't think I've done that yet. It's a beautiful story. And one worth sharing.

Blessings, Rebekah

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Salute!


 Lonnie LeMaster (my great-grandfather)- Lonnie joined the service on January 26, 1917 to fight Pancho Villa of Mexico. After training he was sent to the Philippine Islands and from there to China. While in China he was seriously ill and spent over six months in the hospital. One 3-day period he was screened off because he was expected to die. He was at various times in Korea, Guam, Japan, and the Hawaiian Islands. (Thanks to my Aunt Susie...who is our family historian)

Today we salute our Veterans. We didn’t do anything specifically to honor our military at our house. I did put a little extra Italian Sausage in the spaghetti sauce tonight. Troy is our in-house Veteran. He served in the Air Force BB (Before Beke). I hope he appreciates my Sausage Salute!

He is blessed to come from a military family. His Dad, 2 of his brothers, a brother-in-law, a sister-in-law, and a nephew have served and/or currently serving. I am so proud of all of them. I think it shows the strength of character of a nation where so many voluntarily offer their lives so the rest of us can enjoy such freedoms. I don’t want to take any of it for granted. I am also fortunate to have in my life friends who have also answered the call of service to our country. What a blessing they are!

We can’t either forget those who fought in wars long past. Those who joined up or those whose number was picked from a “hat.” They didn’t run away or protest. They quietly kissed their families good-bye and went off to change the world. I have great-grandparents who fought in WWII, a great-uncle who was at The Battle of the Bulge, a grandfather who served in the China Sea. Friends who fought in Vietnam. They all came back…many more made the ultimate sacrifice. The Veterans in my life do not seek glory for themselves. They are honored to serve. There is a lady of my acquaintance who in served in the Secret Service in WWII. She does not speak of her experiences. Her only acknowledgement of her sacrifice today was a WWII Veterans hat.

I Remember all those brave men and women who have served so gallantly. I Salute those who continue to continue to serve. Thank you for fighting so I can worship, so I can speak my mind, so I can pursue happiness…








Wednesday, November 3, 2010

One of Those

My mom took this little bluebird's picture. He lives on their farm. He also looks a bit miffed.
Maybe he's having one of those weeks!


I am having what is termed "one of those weeks." Of course, it could be said that the past few years of my life have teetered on the edge of insanity. We all experience those kinds of days, weeks and years. And we all have ways we cope with it. My preferred method involves holing myself up with Kettle Cooked Lays,Krispy Kreme and a good murder mystery. Of course, that method has contributed to my unhealthy weight gain, a laundry pile gone wild, and a glimpse into the criminal mind.  I also have done a lot of bad writing. It's generally all over the place. So I don't usually share it with anybody. Not even Troy. Or my momma. Hopefully, this post makes some sort of sense. Instead of getting all maudlin and preachy on you I've decided just to share a few odds and ends.

1. My bottom is dragging. Not that bottom. The bottom of my car. Somehow I have managed to knock some sort of plastic panel loose. It started dragging on my way to church tonight. I stopped by Troy's work and he tied it up with a plastic thingy (like my technical term?). Unfortunately, it came loose again and I drove the 8 mile round trip to church sounding like a wave machine. And to top it off there was something big going on downtown tonight and when I drove by the throngs of people coming out of the Expo Center I got all kinds of stares. I was mortified until I realized they really couldn't see me in the dark. Troy promised he's going to fix it tomorrow. If not I will have to imagine myself at the beach...

2. Josiah told me tonight that he sure hopes nobody asks him to sing in a boy's choir. I'm not sure where that comment came from. Except that our choir director from church called to tell me that we weren't having choir practice tonight. So if anybody out there was thinking of asking him to join up with a boy's choir...forget about it. It's not going to happen.

3. Another week is almost over. I don't know whether to jump for joy or moan in despair because we are one week closer to the madness that is "my Holiday shopping" (or lack thereof). Either way I am apparently way too dramatic. This week has been a busy one for me. I'm working on a top secret project (so secret that if I told you I would have to use duct tape to seal your silence forever...or at least until Christmas).

 
4. It is possible...more than likely...yep, it happened...that I wore two different flip flops to church a few weeks ago. And of course my homies at small group are so polite no one said a word. I didn't realize my "oopsie" until the day after when I put my flip flops back on and realized that, yes, one was black and one was brown. Not a biggie, you say? Probably not. It is rather ridiculous to think that anyone was so fixated on my newly pedicured toes to notice my boo boo. The whole thing is still indicative of my present state of mind.

 
5. I found some suspicious looking smears on the wall in Josiah's bedroom today. They have the appearance of boogers. He has developed a nose-picking habit as of late. I am not sure what to do about it. Is this something one shares with the public at large? I imagine that divulging this nugget of info is something he won't appreciate when he is older. Right now he thinks that boogers are pretty stinkin' cool and apparently add to the decor of his bedroom. 

 
6. In addition to being a bona fide nose-picker he is also quite the ladies man. He has a few girls on the line at church. One is an older woman of 10. His most recent sweetheart is younger than him. He told me the other night that half his heart belonged to (insert name here). Hmm. I am assuming that the other half belongs to (insert name here- the older woman). I think we're in trouble. If he can get over the whole nose picking thing before he starts dating (when he's 37 or so) he is going to be quite the heartthrob.

7. I have some pretty great people in my life. They make my days and weeks brighter...no matter what's going on. That's all.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Getting Ready For the Holidays! (I sneaked a peak at Molly's Money-Saving Digest)

If you could see me now the first thing you might notice is the big grin I have on my face. I just read Molly’s Money- Saving Digest “Preparing Our Hearts and Homes For the Holidays” Let me first say I love, love the Holidays. I start getting all misty-eyed when thinking about my mom’s famous peanut brittle, the gingerbread house my little boy and I made last year, my collection of snowmen and of course, our little ceramic Nativity. What happens next is something fringing on hysteria. “What! Thanksgiving is only how many weeks away? How many shopping days until Christmas? I just got my flip flops put up from the summer! And what are we going to do this year special on our limited budget?” Molly’s November Digest gave me so many useful and inspiring nuggets of ideas and information.

I am (if I do say so myself) a pretty good cook. However, I am somewhat of a hit and miss baker. Sometimes I create a hit…Most of the time I miss. I start out great every year. I dig out the recipes that have been passed down through the generations and then I find new treasures. I gather my ingredients and then I go into a baking frenzy. More often than not the results are disappointing. Right of the start Molly gives us a primer on Baking. I can tell you that I have been baking for years and never even knew some of this stuff. Did you know that there is a way you can test the usefulness of your baking soda and baking powder. Do you why you need to stay away from light margarines when baking? There is even advice on sending your goodies through the mail. My nephew in the Air Force is going to love me this year! There is so much fantastic information here I can’t gush enough. Maybe I will finally be able to hold my head high at our annual Cookie Swap!

Another treasure I found in the November Digest is the ever helpful weekly meal plan. How great is that! I struggle with meal planning. There never seems to be enough time. Not only are the meals in Molly’s Digest do-able for a busy family (and look scrumptious), but Molly provides a grocery list. It’s like having your own personal assistant…sans the actually assisting. What a help during the hectic Holiday season! I think the Family Salad Bar has to be my favorite idea. I can see incorporating that particular meal night on a regular basis.

If you are like me you are trying to instill into your kids a sense of decorum and manners…especially at the table. This month’s digest features a kid’s primer on dining etiquette. There is even a placemat to print out so your child can take what he or she has learned and illustrate a table setting. I think I might even take it one step farther and plan a Holiday Tea with my nieces, nephews and son. We will have our own little dining etiquette lesson using the printable placemat and all Molly’s dinner party advice.

There are so many treasures in this particular issue of Molly’s Digest. But what I appreciate the most was the very timely reminder of what we as God’s children are really celebrating. It really hit home. I also need to be grateful for the resources that God has placed in my hands and use them as creatively and generously as I can. I was reminded that I need to ask God for help. He orders my steps. Thanks, Molly! I feel like I am heading into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season with not only a game plan, but a refreshed spirit.

This issue has so much more, from great FREE Holiday planning links to table decorating ideas. There are instructions for a bread basket craft and a great testimony from a family who worked to pay off their 54,000 debt in 33 months. What a terrific article for a husband and wife to read together. It will certainly inspire anyone who desires to live debt free. If you are able I would encourage you to check out this issue of Molly’s Money- Saving Digest. You will not be disappointed!


(P.S) I have purchased several issues of Molly's Money-Saving Digest in the past. I have always found them to be very useful and affordable. Click HERE to find out more!

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