Seven Things I Love About My Mom May 11, 2008

I saw this on another site. So cute. My mom doesn’t read my blog so I’ll have to email this to her. But here it goes anyway.

1. Her honesty
2. Her loyalty to her SEVEN children
3. She loves me the most
4. Hey - I was born first so it makes sense. She has loved me longest so she loves me the MOSTest!
5. Her innocence
6. Her respectful ways of “staying out of it”
7. Her wisdom
8. I know I said seven, but I took up two of them being funny. So numero eighto is her sacrifices.
9. Her hugs

She’s given up more for us than I can wrap my mind around.

I remember her old beat up shoes. Holes in her underpants. The same handful of clothes that were all out of style. Furniture in desperate need of replacing.

Spaghetti by the tons, fried chicken (at least 4 pounds it seemed), enough mashed potatoes to feed a small country, tuna casserole with a side of peas, and so on. I remember her packing sandwich after sandwich for the summers spent at the local pool. She even made mine without jelly (thank you mom).

I remember her having the ugly purse and the ugly car.

I remember having no microwave and no dishwasher. I remember her house before it had central air conditioning. I remember that obnoxious ceiling fan in the upstairs hallway at night roaring like a daggon train coming through our house. I couldn’t fall asleep any other way in the heat of the summer.

I remember she was always pregnant, always tired, always gardening, always cooking, always doing laundry, always doing homework with us, always making us do chores, always being there, always loving, always always always there. She was always there. Home. With us.

My mom gave up her life for us. She went without over and over and over again so we could have. I remember her leaving the kitchen table after cooking a giant meal for us all and running up the stairs crying to her bedroom because we were being ungrateful, selfish, jerk offs. I remember.

And I’ll never forget how she went without. I’ll never forget her love. Her sacrifice. I’ll never forget it.

Mom: I love you and respect you in ways I cannot express. All my life I wanted to grow up to be you. That’s all I ever wanted. Have children, be with them. That’s it. And look at me now mom. Look. I did it. Thank you from the bottom of my overwhelmed with love for you heart. You’re awesome!

Happy Mother’s Day to you!

My awesome parents

Happy Mother’s Day May 11, 2008

To moms with babies

To moms with big babies

To moms in the making

To moms who want babies

To moms trying to conceive

To moms pregnant with babies

To moms who have adopted

To moms who can’t have babies

To grandmas

To moms who have lost babies

Happy Mother’s Day

A Junkin’ Genius May 10, 2008

I am a junkin’ genius. I know I have said this before in one of those previous posts.

I love dollar stores, thrift shops, consignment boutiques, and garage/yard sales. Today we went to the dollar store. They now have pregnancy tests there. Rumor has it that they work too. Two of my friends who are pregnant used a dollar store HPT (home preg test), both were positive, and wouldn’t ya know it — babies in the making!! They have greeting cards – 2 for a dollar. They have stickers for the kids and funny little toys that I remember from my childhood — jacks, old maid, yo-yo’s.

Two weeks ago I stopped by a garage sale. I got Brianna the pinkest, most granny bead necklace you have ever seen. Fifty cents. Wiped it down with an antibacterial hand wipe thingy. Good as new and she loves it!

When I was pregnant in November (before… happened) I went to a consignment boutique (Boomerang for those of you local) and spent about $100 on maternity clothes. I got about $400 worth. If you take what I got to Pea in a Pod or Motherhood or Old Navy and compare prices — I’ll bet $400 is low actually. Beautiful maternity clothes that are practically new. In fact, two pieces still had the original tags on them.

The last time I went thrifting was at Goodwill. I didn’t have time to sift, but I found two “church” dresses for $10.00. Both were name brand. The kids were all cranky-tired so I had to leave. But wow. Two! If I had had the time I’ll bet I could have found much more.

There is a bookstore in Columbus, Ohio that I used to live at. It’s called Half Price Books. They take trade-ins! For a bookwormie like me, that is music to my ears. They also traded CD’s. Ha! I’m also a music-worm. Or whatever. I do so very much miss that store. Ho hum.

And don’t get me started on Farmer’s Markets. Nothing like homegrown and fresh. Ahhh! I saw a tomato stand on the side of the road in Palm City the other day. Maybe we’ll drive by there again tomorrow to see if she’s still out. I could go for a juicy ripe homegrown tomato about now. Makin’ my tummy growl.

Go junkin’. It is fun and you will save a TON of money!

PS: The sex, boobs thing… Uh uh. Didn’t work. LOL! Oh well, I wanted to see if what I’d read on the all knowing internet was true. It’s not. Fairwell.

Prayer May 10, 2008

I have been reading a lot about people’s prayer lives — or lack thereof. Over the past year I had the pleasure of meeting a woman in my church who is the most amazing prayer warrior I’ve ever known. And to hear her pray out loud you would think she was born to be a poet. Maybe she’s in David’s line of ancestors somehow. I am telling you she could write her own Psalms. She used to be in charge of our online e-mail prayer network. Through a series of events in my own life, I became closer to her and learned a few reasons why her prayer life is so full. Plus, I was interested and when I get interested in something I ask a lot of questions. How does one get a prayer life? How is it possible to pray without ceasing? She taught me so much in 1 year and mentored me in this area so thoroughly that I now have the most fulfilling prayer life I have ever had. Believe me, if I say I will pray for you or that I am praying for you, then I will or I am. The results of this have been amazing. The relationship I have with Christ is one I never want to walk away from.

Honestly, before I met this woman, I hardly prayed for anything other than my own needs (or needs of my immediate family) unless there was some sort of crisis at hand.

So how is your prayer life? Do you pray? When you tell others you’ll pray for them, do you? Is praying a challenge for you? If so, why?

Do you know how to pray?

Click on “comments” and tell us. Or answer these questions in your heart. Find a prayer mentor. Learn. You’ll never be the same.

Sex, Boobs, Butts, Alcohol, Drugs May 9, 2008

Got your attention now? Hee hee!

This post has nothing to do with any of those. I am whoring myself for blog traffic. Yep. I admit it! LOL! “Roxanne, turn on the red light. Roooxannne!!” Ha!

I remember a teacher of mine would say the word “sex” whenever he thought he was losing our attention. It ALWAYS worked! Esp for the boys.

Anyway, I thought I’d give a lesson in RSS Feeds, but really I don’t wanna. So click here to learn all the gobbledeegook about blogging. You will be happy that you did. It’s a great informational site and not a bit boring. Well, maybe it’s a little boring. But it is full of neato things to learn about blogging.

I have to give up Mother’s Day until Thursday. Am I a little peeved? Yes I am. But I am trying to be supportive and understanding. My husband’s work people did something that caused a 32 hour delay in what he needed to do and now he has to work ALL WEEKEND in order to meet his deadline, which is Monday. Heavy sigh. I am trying to remember there are so many moms out there trying desperately to get pregnant, who have lost children, who have never been able to have children, and so on who probably won’t get anything on MD, not even a card. Then there is my aunt who lost her son, my cousin, in the war on MD 2 years ago. Then there are the women whose husbands travel or are otherwise tied up in their career commitments that won’t get a special MD either. I am lucky that my husband works from home, my kids are both healthy, and I am able to have children. That is what I choose to focus on. If I didn’t I would be upset and in spoiled little brat mode. Naw. I don’t want the whole weekend destroyed. We can do the beach on Thursday and it won’t be as crowded. It will still be wonderful, even late. Pep talk done. Moving on.

Got everything backed up on the computer. In the middle of the first attempt our 2 year old son, Jeremy, turned off the computer. The little stinker. So back to square one. Anyway, by 6:30 tonight it was all backed up. So if my computer dies, so be it. I have all my stuff now. Now, of course, it is working like it always has — lightning speed, ducks in a row. It figures!

I have been visiting oh so many blogs lately. We all have these fancy little sidebars where we keep our lists of our bloggie friends, but hardly a clickity click goes on over there. I decided last week I would start clickity clickin’ on other people’s bloggie friends. So glad I did! I have found some really great blogs. I have also found some really great ideas for my own. I have also seen what ads can do to a blog. Ew! So distracting. Anyway, please remember to say hello to my little friends over there on the right. They’re a great group of people. That list will keep growing, I’m sure, so make use of it. You will have fun, you will gain friends, and you will gain exposure for your own blog. My daily hits have tripled since I started doing this. Oh, but heck, the secret is you have to leave comments. So to the 170 of you who click here every day and don’t comment, then you will remain a mystery. To the other 5 of you who do comment, you will gain a few hundred friends. Have at it!

One thing I find funny. Lots of folks write this at the end of their posts – ”peace”. But only on the posts that are absolute rants and witch-fests. Get out your claws, crap down someone’s neck, but end it with “peace”. Why does this always make me laugh sarcastically with that “up yours” eyeroll? Does it do that to you too?

Anyway.

peace (lol!)

Computer Troubles (again) May 9, 2008

So my office computer is sick. My laptop is a PITA (really it’s not — I am just not used to it). Rich’s computers confuse me (and he’s still sleeping so I can’t have him fix it again). I am running a virus scan and then I’ll do an adware/spyware scan. Guess we better back everything up today just incase.

This is what I’d like to do to it!

Gotta find some way to entertain the kids today away from home again. Rich is so busy right now and I can tell that wrinkled expression on his face means he is stressed out too. Best for us all if we vacate for a few hours. He doesn’t lose his temper, but there is no sense in making life harder for him right now. Poor guy has been up until the wee hours of the morning every day this week.

Our Mother’s Day plans have changed slightly. Instead of the beach in the morning we’re going in the evening. Our church building took a disastrous hit with raw sewage flooding last week. We want to be with our congregation on Sunday. We have so many friends who go there.

And, T, all I really want for MD is a day at the beach with my family. That’s all. My friend, L, told me yesterday that there is a book about love languages. She said mine must be “time” and yours must be “gifts”. She reads this blog. No doubt I won’t turn gifts down. But they aren’t important to me this time. Plus, my b-day is in May. That will be the day for gifts.

Alrighty… time for our walk. See you fun lovin’ bloggers later.

PS: Be ready for a lesson in RSS feeds. SO MUCH easier than “favorites”, but really for the intermediate blogger who reads many diff blogs per day. Oh, and, there will be no lesson for the advanced blogger. You already know as much or more than I do — you addicts! Hi, my name is Heidi, and I am a blogger. Uh huh. I get you!

Not After Five May 8, 2008

I should not drink coffee after 5:00 p.m.

Unless it’s decaf.

Because I’m still wide awake

And it’s after 10:00

But I luv me some coffee

 

And         My         Coffee         Luvs           Me

Living the Talk May 8, 2008

Before I go too deep here I wanted to say THANK GOD FOR A HUSBAND WHO IS A SOFTWARE ENGINEER!! I had horrible computer trouble this morning and he got me up and running in about 20 minutes. He’s a genius!!

Now to the deep stuff. Go get your boots. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

We “Christians” talk a lot of crap. We do. Many, many of us have been infected with the Christianese bug. And it is nothing short of a crying shame. A few examples:

1. My sister’s boss talks so much Christian smack and lives it out so little in his business affairs that he looks like a major wussy boy and, even worse, a hypocrit. Thank God he hasn’t turned her off of her faith. Thank God she was already a solid believer before ever going to work for him.
2. On another board I frequent, a person was nearly begging for an acceptable solution for the mountains of cards stacked against him. Out of nearly 130 responses to his questions, only FOUR people offered to actually HELP him. The rest of the commenters threw his way the most Christian Geek Speak that I have ever, ever, ever seen. It was so sadly pathetic that it would make an atheist laugh milk thru her nose while pointing at the screen saying, “that’s precisely what I’m talkin about right there”. How miserably he was failed and by none other than THE BODY OF CHRIST! I don’t recall anyone offering to pray for him. Maybe some did, but I was really, really disturbed by the amount of unthoughtful responses that I almost staggered. If I had been standing, I would have staggered.
3. “Oh we should get together sometime”; “Let’s get our kids together for a play date”; “Give me your phone number so I can call you and we’ll get together”. I cannot tell you how many stupid times I have heard this from people who are almost complete strangers. It’s as if you cannot have a simple conversation with a Christian anymore with no strings attached. No hon, I wasn’t trying to “date” you. I just wanted you to know that I think your purse is cute, hair is cute, shoes are cute, dress is cute, or husband is cute (sike on that last one!!). But, ya know? Why does every conversation have to end with “call me sometime”?????? Don’t get me wrong. I love to have get-togethers. But I don’t compliment people so we can become best friends. It - Was - Just - A - Compliment. Sheesh. Say “thanks”, then walk away. Bye now. Or the best is when they have said this so many times that it becomes automatic and soon you’re hearing them greet people with “Hi I’m so-and-so, it’s nice to meet you, we should get together sometime”. ROFL!

My point is we need to BE REAL with ourselves, our God, and our community — even when our faith is weak and we are suffering — maybe ESPECIALLY then. Understand that a fake Christian is worse than an honest atheist. No one is going to want to become a Christian when “we” have such a reputation as being cheesy with our cheesy smiles, stupid lingo, and flighty airheaded demeanor. It’s weird. It is so super weird. I mean like would you like want to like hang out with like the like teenager of the like week for like a weekend? No!!!!!!!!!! Not that Christians say “like” a lot. But seriously. “Praise the Lord” and all that goody stuff every time the lights turn on when you flip the switch knowing full well you paid the bill on time anyway — that’s STRANGE to EVERYONE!!

God doesn’t need a cheerleading squad. He needs people to be themselves (He created you afterall) and to use their gifts (that He gave you anyway) to affect the lost and to encourage the found.

If someone is hungry, give them food. Don’t give them your best sermon or favorite Bible verse because it will have NO AFFECT on them. Guess what? They’re STILL HUNGRY!

If someone is naked, give them clothes. Don’t drive them by the mall and tell them all about the great sale at Macy’s during Christmas. What good does that do? Think about this. That’s how stupid it is for us to preach to someone who is shivering about how they should turn to Jesus. Show them Jesus. Then maybe you’ll have the opportunity to actually talk about Jesus.

If someone needs a hug, give them a hug. Be compassionate. Don’t push them down a flight of stairs. Duh!

Do you understand me here?

In simplest terms:

WALK THE TALK

BE THE BODY OF CHRIST

HELP YOUR FELLOW CHRISTIANS IN NEED

MEET         THEIR         NEEDS

Don’t just badger them with your most incredible capacity to spew out memorized Bible verses. It’s so ridiculous!

Old adage that is too true:

Actions

Speak

Louder

Than

Words

I Need Help May 7, 2008

I read too many blogs and I’m tired every night and every day. I need more coffee. I need more cigarettes. Someone must come babysit my kids so I can get to all of my beloved blogs. Comment, get ideas, comment, argue, laugh, giggle, cry, yawn, rub tired/itchy eyes, click, click, click, click.

Just kidding about the cigarettes. I haven’t smoked one in over 4 years. Yahoo!

Good night fellow blog lovers. Be back in the mornin’ — coffee in hand as usual. Sweet dreams.

Taken For Granted May 7, 2008

Here is a list of 10 things (not people, this is about things) I have taken for granted. God blesses us so abundantly and may we never cease to thank Him. May we never forget the little things we are so blessed to have.

1. Easy access to healthcare
2. Insurance
3. A car
4. A house
5. A fridge & freezer full of food
6. Vitamins and supplements
7. Clothes, shoes, purses, perfumes, make-up, hair products
8. Running water
9. Heat when I’m cold — AC when I’m hot
10. My Bible

Your turn. What is one thing (not listed) that YOU take for granted?

Click on “comments” to leave your answer.