"Five Things" Tag

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Trying to convince John to break up with his girlfriend and go out with me.
2. Attending many Spring Sing rehearsals for my Shantih Sports show.
3. Taking my first business classes.
4. Being thankful for our 11pm curfew, knowing it was the only time I'd get my homework done.
5. Awaiting the arrival of our Good News CD that we had made in the fall.

Five things on my to-do list today:
1. Take Johnathan to school. (DONE)
2. Do ONE load of laundry. (Almost Done)
3. Organize songs to lead at a Ladies' Day at West Irwin. (DONE)
4. Not talk too much since I have a very sore throat. (Shot)
5. Take Johnathan's friend, who had his tonsils out, a card. (Plan in Progress)

Five things I will do when I am a millionaire:
1. Pay off all debt!
2. Fill college funds for all the kids.
3. Give generously to the church and to families who need help.
4. Take family to a remote island for a month (at least).
5. Buy a working ranch, with all the ranch hands, and ride horses everyday.

Five things I will never wear again:
1. Contacts
2. Short shorts
3. Side ponytail
4. Tight-rolled jeans ... I don't care if they come back in style.
5. Crimped hair

Five of my favorite toys:
1. Adobe Photoshop
2. Laptop
3. Coffee Maker
4. Digital Camera
5. Piano

Five banes of my existence:
1. Dirty bathrooms
2. Blinkers, those that are not used when they should be and those that are left on when they shouldn't
3. Laundry
4. Sweeping/Mopping
5. Sales Calls

Straight up to the Pipers

A brief conversation between my son and me:

Johnathan, sitting on potty: "Oh mommy! My poopy!"

Me: "Was it big?"

Johnathan: "Yeah! It goed straight up to the pipers!"

Now what's that supposed to mean?!

It's for real now

All those cravings, all the time, that tummy bulge, the rapid mood swings, the overwhelming exhaustion ... and finally today I heard that heartbeat. I know it's my third and I half expected to just listen to the heartbeat and smile and go on home. But with each child, the first time I hear that precious little heart beat, tears just stream down my face (and into my ears, of course, since I lying down).

Now, I had figured my due date on BabyCenter.com, based on certain dates the we're all aware of, and BabyCenter came up with August 21. I'd be 10 weeks today. Well, I gave the midwife (What?? Wait ... I'll come back to that.) the same dates as I entered on BabyCenter, and she came up with August 12 and that I'm a little over 11 weeks along. Can it really be that different? I'm going to have her figure it out again when I go back.

Yes, I'm going the midwife/birth center route this time, and I'm so excited about it! I'm just ready to be in control of my own birth this time with out a needle and tether (IV) and WITH the actual people I know as opposed to nurses I've never met and an on-call doctor I've never seen. I don't want to be told not to push when I'm at a 10 and then have the doctor I've never seen fuss at me for having the baby before he got there. Yes, there are risks, of course, but the hospital is less than 5 minutes away just in case.

The midwife gave Johnathan a little plastic figurine of a 12 week old fetus to take home so he could see what the baby looks like right now. He was completely fascinated by it! It's fun since he understands a little more with this one than he did with Kalleigh. He talks about and prays for the "new baby" all the time!

So, I'm almost in the second trimester (maybe?!) and feeling great. Thanks for your prayers!

Snagged

So often when listening to Jeff's sermon on Sunday mornings I hit a snag. It's like putting on hose when, rip! Your fingernail gets snagged in the hose and then there's this runner, and it's all you can think about. Unlike the runner, which is a bad thing, I'm usually caught on something really good and my thoughts run away from the sermon and form their own little sermon in my head. (Sorry, Jeff.) :)

This past Sunday, Jeff was up there preaching about grace. He said that it ought to be a given that we extend grace to our fellow church members, but that, of course, we need to extend grace to everyone else. And I don't remember much else after that.

Is it easier to be gracious to our church family than to the rest of the world? Maybe sometimes. But for me, at least in this stage in my Christian walk, many times it's harder for me to be gracious to the people with whom I'm closest. I mean, "those worldy people," we're supposed to extend grace to them. Jesus said to! Everybody's doing it! We don't gossip about them ... we don't even know them! Besides, they didn't really do anything to affect us personally. We'd just as soon keep our distance. It's safer.

But my church family? Christians? They know better! How am I suppsed to be gracious to them if I have to see them every week, and sometimes more often than that! It's hard to pretend like everything's okay if I really have to come in contact with them. It's a lot easier to gossip about them and get people "on my side" than to actually talk to them.

To truly be gracious ... even when "they know better" ... now that's really something.

I'm still working on that one.

The Obligatory Christmas Post

Three Christmases this year:
*Curtis -- Searcy, AR
*Hodges -- Searcy, AR
*Kell -- Dallas, TX

Lots of laughter, food and fun! Happy New Year to all!