Week in Review - It's Been A Difficult Week

I've wanted to post a few times this week, but time kept getting away from me.  How I would love a day when I can do absolutely nothing.  Just sit around watching TV, which I haven't done in awhile.  Some days I miss that.

Molly is scheduled for her surgery tomorrow.  She has been getting steadily worse this week, though you wouldn't know it from her demeanor.  She is still as loving and affectionate as ever, even if she doesn't have the same amount of energy or spunk.

The surgery can't come soon enough.  The tumor on her belly appears infected, and I mean badly infected.  It oozes, and has turned dark, almost green, and it smells awful.  I discussed with my daughter today that I'm concerned it might become gangrenous, which would be devastating.  Even if she comes out of the surgery well, which of course is our hope, there is no guarantee we will have her with us for very long.  We are both convinced this is a cancerous tumor, and more than likely it has spread, though we don't know to what extent.  We have to wait for the surgery, then make a decision as to her future.  It's not something any of us is looking forward to.

My son E had a very busy school week.  He had an English paper and presentation to finish and send in.  He started quadratic formulas in algebra which were complicated to learn.  There was a science quiz and a review portfolio which he just finished today.  Music history is usually just reading, but this week he had a review and critical thinking paper, class discussion, and lab to complete.  Usually he doesn't have to work on the weekends, but this time he worked both yesterday and today, with a Hope assignment still not completed - it should be done by tomorrow.  There's about 8 weeks of school left so of course it gets hectic as we approach the final stretch.

Work was also really busy this week.  Many of the students we tutor took their ACT exams this weekend, so they're done with tutoring.  New students that have been on a waiting list are now starting this week, which meant lots of paperwork had to be completed.  As busy as we were, I had to help with tutoring a few kids.  Two of our teachers were sick - one had kidney surgery and the other had a kidney infection, so both were in the hospital at the same time.  MM arranged their students as best she could, but there simply weren't enough teachers to go around, so I was assigned homework help students.  Since they were all elementary school age it wasn't a problem, but I felt like I would never get my work done.  Thankfully everything fell into place and I think we're back on track, but I have to say it was pretty stressful.

Then Friday, my "day off", started off at 6:00am.  I went to bible study where we finished studying the book Daniel by Beth Moore.  It was such a great study that I'm actually sorry it's over!  Afterwards I came home to do schoolwork with my son, make lunch, then take him to the doctor.  He has a rash on his left hand, a very itchy rash.  When it first appeared I thought it was ant bites.  As more bumps appeared in clusters, I thought it was similar to what he'd had on his eye, so I had him put on the cream they'd given him for his hand.  It did nothing.  It kind of looked like eczema, which he's had before, so I got him eczema cream.  It got worse.  The skin around his thumb was cracking, and it was very painful.  So I took him to his regular doctor, who believes this is a fungus based on the fact that it's only on his hand and the hydrocortisone made it worse.  He prescribed a cream, and antibiotics because of the cracked skin.  I'm keeping an eye on it; it seems better, but if I don't see enough improvement by Tuesday I'm gonna have to take him to see a dermatologist.

As exhausting as my week had been, I was looking forward to cleaning my home on Saturday and then relaxing.  That wasn't meant to be.  My kid's father showed up after two weeks of not seeing or calling any of his children.  He put on a show of concern for E's hand, and suggested yet again that we get rid of Molly because he blames her for E's allergies and anything else that happens to him.  He actually asked if any of us could catch what Molly has.  Since when is cancer contagious?  He finally left without E, because he didn't think E should go out with his hand looking the way it did.  Meanwhile, once again, I was left feeling angry and resentful and bitter, which I absolutely hate feeling, but he brings out the worst in me.  It is so frustrating that he acts like he's so concerned about his kids, then he disappears for a week or two.  It took several hours before I was able to calm down - that, and a trip to Target ;-).  I looked through the tops for clearance items, and found 3 tank tops and a v-neck, each under $10.  I don't usually recommend retail therapy, but I needed to get out of my house and focus on something else.

This week our Sunday school class was challenged to learn Psalm 23 by hard.  And let me tell you, it was hard!  I know bits and pieces of it, but I've never learned it straight through.  For some crazy reason, I thought I'd learn it in the King James Version.  It sounds so beautiful with all the thee's and thou's, but honestly, what was I thinking?!  I actually made it harder on myself.  I was relieved to find out everyone else had a hard time learning it as well ;-).  We are gonna continue working on it this week.  I printed it and put it up on my fridge to help me remember it.

That's my recap for the week.  It has been rough, and I don't think the coming week will be much easier, especially with Molly recovering from surgery.  If you think of her during the day, please say a prayer for our puppy.  We love her dearly, and just want to see her get better.  Thanks y'all.  Goodnight, and God bless.

Mid Week Recap

Is the week over yet?  No?  Ugh.  I was kinda hoping it would be.

Ever have one of those weeks?  Yeah, me too.

I've been battling this cold and congestion for several days now.  Tuesday I went in to work with absolutely no voice.  At all.  I didn't feel so poorly that I couldn't work, I just couldn't help answer the phones, which is a primary reason I'm there.  That made me feel a bit useless, but I made sure I got the filing cabinet in order (MM is so grateful for that) and made up some of the reading books for students.  Whatever I could do, I would do, and I felt appreciated for the effort.

My voice is slowly coming back, but not without this annoying cough, and now my nose is drippy.  What I want is a good night's sleep.  I took Benadryl last night and it did help, but of course my days are packed with activities and I don't get to slow down much.  Just yesterday we had school, then I went off to work for 3 hours, only to run home, change, eat something quick, and run off to Awana.  I love being busy - it beats being bored - but when you aren't feeling 100% (or even 80%) it's rough on the body.  I'm looking forward to (hopefully) getting some extra sleep this weekend.

Wait, what am I saying?!  I've got the garage to organize, meaning I'm planning on getting the storage cabinets and finishing that job up.  And to top it off, our clocks have to spring forward this weekend!  Yikes!  That means getting up a whole hour earlier for church!!  I hate Daylight Savings Time with a passion!

In other news, I placed an order with New York and Company for another couple pairs of pants and a pretty top I'd seen at the store.  I had some City Cash to spend ($30 worth) but no time to get to the store.  Thankfully I've tried on the clothes and I pretty much know my size.  Besides, if the clothes don't fit I can go to the store and exchange them.  If they do fit, I've avoided a trip to the mall.  Here's to hoping!

That's it so far.  My week has been a cycle of homeschooling and work, with a side order of I-feel-yucky.  Here's to praying for a better rest of the week, and God's provision which is always much needed.  Have a blessed day!

Monday, Monday

I'm sitting here enjoying a piping hot bowl of chicken and dumplings in hopes that it will counteract the cold that wants to take over my chest.  How it invaded my body I don't know, but I will do whatever it takes to defeat it.

A quick recap of my goings-on:  Saturday's wedding was absolutely gorgeous (as weddings typically are).  The theme of the wedding was taken from the Disney Pixar movie Up.  The bridesmaids were dressed in '40's style dresses and hairdo's, and the groomsmen wore tan pants and suspenders.  They used the music from the movie to walk down the aisle which was precious.  The table centerpieces were hot air balloons with flowers in the baskets.  I really should have taken pictures, but as usual I didn't think of it.  My daughter took some, though.  She was enthralled with the decor and the theme.  The only drawback was the weather.  It was supposed to be an outdoor wedding, but we had the worst rainstorm I've seen all winter.  It wasn't raining, it was monsooning.  The Lord protected us, because the rain didn't start till about 15 minutes after we arrived.  You couldn't see outside it was coming down so hard.  The poor bride was in tears; it was her dream to have an outdoor wedding, and it was just impossible to do.  What's surprising is that we hadn't gotten much rain the entire month of February, yet it rained on and off all day long with such a vengeance.  Still, the wedding went off beautifully despite the little setback, and now the bride and groom are in Tokyo for their honeymoon.  I don't think I've ever seen the groom so happy, and I've known him for years.  What a joy to be able to share such an important day with the family.

I was already starting to feel the effects of a cold coming on, but it wasn't until yesterday afternoon that I was uncomfortable enough to take some Mucinex.  I've started the next big project here at the house: organizing the garage.  I threw out a bunch of stuff already, and my son R took 2/3 of the rotted wall unit to the dump.  I spent several hours cleaning, moving, trashing and taking the wall unit apart.  I left only the section with the food.  Although I have a little pantry in the kitchen, it's just that: a little pantry.  Some of the food has been moved out to the garage, and the storage is not right for what we need.  My plan, Lord willing, is to rent a pick-up truck from Lowe's and get the storage units from there as well.  That will have to be done Friday, since we have school and work all week.  The garage looks neater already, and it's still a mess!  I'm really looking forward to having everything in its proper place.  The other thing I'm planning on getting is a small freezer, so that I can buy meats on sale and have a place to put them.  Back in 2000 when we moved to this house, it seemed so enormous.  Now we're busting at the seams.  Even with all the junk I threw out there's still a ton of stuff in the garage.  Time to purge, purge, purge!

That's it for this edition of My Life.  I'll try to get a more detailed post in later.  For now, God bless and have a lovely day :-).

Wednesday Mid-Week

Today was a slightly more relaxed day than yesterday.  I like days that are even the slightest bit more relaxed.  I'm a relaxation loving gal.

I awoke to the sounds of my daughter coughing up all the nastiness that has been plaguing her the past few days.  It reminded me of her brother just last week.  That Mucinex-DM really does work, let me tell you.  Her voice is slowly returning though she whispers most of the time just so she doesn't strain her throat.  That's been the hardest part for her: my daughter the chatterbox doesn't know how to "not speak".  She went back to work today because she had to, not because she wanted to.  Her boss at the tutoring place told her that she'd had to cancel two of her students because there was no one to replace her.  My daughter felt bad, even though this is the first time in a year and a half that she's missed a day of work.

Since today was the last day of the semester and my son is completely done with all his work, I just asked him to do some reading for the day.  It made no sense to try and figure out something for him to do.  I did a bunch of cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, laundry...basically kept busy with all the inside housework.  I'm thinking tomorrow I'll work outside; there's plenty to be done, and the weather has been nice, though today it was pretty hot out.  Apparently it's supposed to cool down over the weekend again.  We've had temps in the upper 50's and lower 60's during the night and in the mornings, and 70's in the afternoon.  Today actually got up to about 80, but that's not supposed to last.  I'm glad; it's much easier to do yardwork when it isn't too hot outside.

We had Awana tonight.  One of the leaders told me my makeup looked really nice, which made me happy :).  I'd taken my time fixing my makeup and hair, and it was nice that she noticed.  When I got home I cleaned up the kitchen, then prepared the jambalaya for tomorrow.  I prep everything and put it inside the crock pot, then leave it in the fridge till tomorrow morning when I set it on high for about 5 hours.  That's why I love the crock pot so much: it takes about 10 minutes to prepare everything, and the crock pot does the rest.

So that was pretty much my day.  Nothing exciting, no big adventures, just a quiet, ordinary day.  Well, quiet when my daughter wasn't coughing :( .  I'm desperately hoping I don't catch this cold; she hangs around me a lot, and I hate telling her to keep away, but I really, really don't want to get sick.  Here's to hoping!  Have a blessed, restful night everybody.

Tackling Tuesday

It's late.  Like past 11:00 pm late.  Like, I'd already gone to bed and remembered I hadn't posted, late.  It's been one of those days, to be sure.

I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail (at least I hope not) because I'm pretty tired.  I got a text from my daughter this morning (who was in her bedroom) asking me to take her to the doctor because she hadn't gotten any sleep all night due to the pressure in her head and how miserable she felt.  So I got up early, ready to take her to urgent care because I figured she was in that much pain.  When I asked if she wanted to go to urgent care, she indicated that I should try the regular doctor first and see if they had any available appointments.  They did - at 1:15 pm.  She chose to wait and go to the doctor, since urgent care has a much higher deductible.

I took advantage and made food early, bourbon chicken with rice, so that we could eat before going to the doctor.  I was sure we'd be there for hours because that's how it always is with doctors, but I was pleasantly surprised.  We were called in right away, and within about 20 minutes the doctor was there to see her.  They took blood, did a strep test, and a nasal test too.  No infections, but she has a lot of fluid in her left ear, which explains her earache and all the pressure in her head.  Her sinuses are pretty swollen and congested as well.  The doctor says she's pretty much headed towards an infection in that ear, so she went ahead and prescribed antibiotics and a host of other stuff to help her feel better.  We were home by 3:00, which in doctor's terms is record time.

I didn't really do much else today.  Since my daughter's voice is gone, I had to go with her to the doctor to explain what she had, then to the pharmacy to pick up her meds.  At 7:30 my running buddy, son and I went for our evening exercise with our running group.  We didn't actually run; we walked for 2 1/2 miles, but it's exercise all the same.  Once I got home I took a shower, then gave myself a manicure and pedicure.  And that's pretty much it, in a nutshell.  I could go into more detail, but I'm too tired.  Maybe tomorrow.  Good night ya'll.

Monday, Monday

I feel like I'm starting off the week right.  I'm getting back into my groove.  It's a good way to start the week, especially on the day everyone hates.

I woke up once in the middle of the night, and prayed that God would take any unnecessary thoughts out of my head so I could go back to sleep.  It worked.  I dozed off till 6:00.  I got up at 7:00, after spending some time with the Lord, and got my day started.  My cousin was bringing the kids over today, since there's no school (Martin Luther King Jr. day).  I figured they'd be here between 8:30 and 9:00, so I had to get moving.  I had already decided what we were gonna have for lunch/dinner: spaghetti with meat sauce, breadsticks, and salad.  I needed to get the sauce in the crock pot early.  I don't care for sauce in a jar, so I make my own.  It's so simple, yet so much better (and healthier) than anything in the stores, and it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.  A couple cans of crushed tomatoes, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, one dried bay leaf, sofrito (made with onion, green pepper, garlic and cilantro), olive oil, salt and pepper.  Throw all the ingredients in the crock pot, and in 3 hours you have sauce.  Done.  The meat gets added later.  For breakfast, I decided to make pancakes.  I like buttermilk pancakes, again from scratch, because in my opinion they are just as easy to make as the boxed version, only they don't taste like a cardboard box.  I made a batch, along with bacon,  Oh, my kids love me, and now you know why.

As I was finishing whipping up our breakfast, the kids arrived.  They were actually late; it was after 9:00 when their dad dropped them off.  They brought bags of cereal that they had for breakfast, as we sat down to our pancakes.  Once I got the dishes in the sink the kids immediately asked to play a board game.  They brought Monopoly Jr., which they'd gotten for Christmas.  Over the summer I babysat them everyday, and we played at least 2 board games daily.  They loved coming over to my house because I took the time to play with them and teach them games.  I believe board games are so much better than video games; they're more interactive, and require more thinking.  While video games can be good for motor skills, so can card games.  The best part is, with board games you're looking at your opponent in the eye, rather than at a television screen.  I'm not opposed to video games; I just think there's better stuff out there.  So we played a game of Monopoly Jr. (totally fun), then my son R came out and started playing on his Wii U.  And they were gone.  For the next 2 hours.  Oh well, at least I was able to keep them focused for a little while.

I took advantage of those 2 hours and got some cleaning done.  Yesterday, as I was folding laundry, I tried to plug a light into the wall and accidentally knocked down my Dyson vacuum cleaner, the one that's been out of commission for the past few weeks.  I'd tried taking it apart to figure out why it wouldn't stand upright or work properly, but to no avail, so I had it in my room as I tried to decide whether to get it fixed or not.  As I picked it up to put it back where I'd had it, I realized what the problem was.  A piece, conveniently located right in front of another piece that I had taken apart and put back together, was out of place.  I moved it back to where it was supposed to go, and voila!  The vacuum cleaner was upright again.  Since it was already late at night I hadn't tested it, but I did try it out today.  It works like a dream.  To think I'd done so much to try and fix it, yet in one split second it was up and running.  All I could do was shake my head.

My daughter stayed home from work today.  Her throat is sore, her voice is gone, she had a low grade fever, and her sinuses are hurting.  Sounds just like what her brother had.  The good thing is that she's been able to nap during the day.  The bad thing is, she's gotta work tomorrow.  Hopefully she'll feel better in the morning.

After cleaning up I browned the ground beef and added it to the sauce, then made the breadsticks and spaghetti.  I like Pillsbury breadsticks; they taste good and are less messy to make.  As I was pulling the salad fixings out of the fridge, the kid's mom came and brought them pizza.  It's easy to see what their favorite food is: they went at it like piranhas.  I made the salad with a few sweet peppers from my garden, and my one lone tomato which had finally turned red.  It was a tiny little thing, but it packed a lot of sweetness!  I'm hoping it won't be the only tomato I get from that plant.

As I sat down to eat my lunch I took a look at the Bare Escentuals website to see about my order.  I hadn't gotten an email yet but I kind of hoped there would be an update about it shipping (there wasn't).  What I did see that caught my eye:  10% off everything on their website, and free shipping.  Why do they do this to me???  It's like they knew there was something I'd wanted to order but hadn't, so they enticed me with an incredible offer.  I have to admit, I debated back and forth whether to place the order or not.  I went through my makeup, reviewed my budget, and ultimately I got it.  It's a set of 5 eyeliners in different colors: bronze, green, taupe, plum, and gold.  This set normally sells for $29; one Lasting Line eyeliner on its own sells for $16.  This particular set was already on sale for $13; with the discount and tax I ended up paying just over $12.  That's about $2.50 per pencil.  I couldn't let a deal like that slip away!  Besides, I currently have 2 black eyeliners and 3 brown ones.  I also have one called Forever Brandy, which is a sort of burgundy/purple shade.  One of the brown ones is a bronze color, but that would be the only repeat.  I'm excited about having pencils in different colors because, at my age, black is harsh against my skin.  I'll still wear it, because I love black eyeliner, but it's too dramatic for anything other than special occasions.  Lighter colors are more flattering, and these colors will be a perfect fit.

As I was putting the lunch dishes in the dishwater, I asked my 8 year old niece if she'd gotten homework over the weekend.  She said that she had, and that she'd done all of it except for Reading Plus.  Reading Plus is a computer program the kids in public school use to improve their reading skills.  She knew she was supposed to do Reading Plus at my house, but she hadn't mentioned it to me.  When I asked her about it, she said, "I was going to tell you."  Uh-huh.  Like 5 minutes before her grandma picked her up?  Yeah, right kid.  I had her sit down and get to work.  She could have finished quickly, but she's so easily distracted!  Her brothers played on their tablets to keep them quietly occupied (as if it's possible to keep two little boys ages 5 and 7 quiet), and she was almost done by the time her grandma came to get them.  It was sad for me to see their grandma; she had been grandma Maria's primary caretaker for almost 30 years.  Her mother had helped her raise her daughter, and she in turn had cared for her mother in her declining years.  While she smiles and loves on her grandkids, there's definitely a sadness in her eyes, and I'm sure an empty spot in her heart.  We all know grandma Maria is with Jesus and she's no longer suffering.  It's the one comforting thought we have.

Once they were gone I fed Molly, then went to the front yard to trim some trees and bushes that were getting overgrown thanks to last week's rains.  Tomorrow is trash day, so I wanted to get as much debris inside the garbage tank as could fit.  I filled it up but good!  It took me an hour but thankfully the weather has been superb, in the low 70's with a nice breeze, so yard work was actually pleasant.  I had my dinner and rested a bit before taking my shower.  I cleaned up, picked up, and now I can try and plan tomorrow's school day.  Honestly, I have no clue what we're gonna be doing.  E has finished all his assignments; unless there's something he needs to change or correct, he's done, but he has 2 days of school this week.  I'm pretty sure his teachers won't be having any live lessons, since they have to finish grading everyone's final exams.  I'm waiting to see if I get any emails from his teachers, otherwise we're gonna have to figure something out.  Shouldn't be too hard, right?...

With that I will bid everyone a good night, sweet dreams, rest well, and remember, Jesus loves you.

It's Sunday

A "good" day is classified as a day when all news is good news.  A "not so good" day is one where the news is bad, sad, or anything other than "good".  So what do you call a day with a little of both?  I call it, Everyday.

I got to Sunday school late.  That's because I got up late.  I got up late because I kept waking up last night.  I don't get it; I went to bed at my regular time, and I was tired.  Why did I have such a hard time sleeping?  I've never had trouble sleeping unless I have something on my mind, but that wasn't the case last night.  I just kept randomly waking up.  Is it the whole pre-menopause thing?  'Cause if it is, I ain't liking it.

Anyway, I got to Sunday school late, and it was almost a cheer-fest.  I'm usually the first or second person in class, making coffee and setting up.  They all figured I must be sick or something because I'm rarely ever late.  It felt really good to know my church family cares that much about me.

We're looking into a curriculum for our Sunday school class.  Last week we finished an intense study into the book of James, and now we're looking for something topical, something about living out our Christian life.  I'm hoping we can find something on discipleship, which is what the pastor has been teaching on since the beginning of the year.  If a curriculum can be found it would be great, so we can tie everything in, but we're trusting God to lead in what He wants us to study.

We went to service, and Pastor Ralph was teaching today.  He talked about what it means to be a real man.  It was a great teaching, but it's what happened afterwards that really moved me to tears.  For the past few weeks we've been praying for a sweet lady in our church.  LS has had cancer twice in the past, has had to go through chemo and all the ugliness that comes with it.  Recently she went to the doctor and was told her levels were high and she'd have to go in for more tests.  This was presented to the whole church so that we could all pray for her.  Today she announced, citing Psalm 115:3, that it pleased the Lord to keep her cancer free.  The joy in my heart was overwhelming!  I'm not a crier; I personally hate to cry in public, but I could feel my eyes well up with joy and happiness knowing our prayers had been answered.  Before I left I found LS and gave her a huge hug.  She is one of the most loving, kind, humble human beings on the face of this earth, and she prays for everyone.  It was a most satisfying feeling to know that I had the privilege to pray for her and have my prayers answered in such a wonderful way.

My son E and I left church quickly; E was complaining of a stomachache.  We ate leftovers for lunch, then my oldest son R's friends came over to play video games.  My daughter A got home shortly thereafter, not looking good at all.  I don't know how she was able to lead worship today - her voice is shot.  She's obviously caught her brother's nasty cold, and she's feeling pretty miserable.  She's also being very clingy.  My daughter is not a small child; she is a 25 year old adult.  But when she is sick, she wants hugs from mom.  Mom, on the other hand, wants to stay clear and NOT catch what she's got.  I don't know how we're gonna manage that.  She's pretty whiny too; all she's had to eat is soup, but she's complaining that she's got too much liquid in her stomach, making her stomach hurt.  Her throat is sore, her ears are hurting, but when I told her to go to bed and get some rest she gave me the "I don't wanna go to bed" look.  *Ugh*  Just when her brother was feeling better, and I thought we'd gotten through this with only one person catching it.  Yeah right.  I'm not getting off that easy.

I happened to go to the school's website to see if any of my son's teachers had posted his final semester grades.  I almost fell out of my chair.  My son's English grade had gone from a 96% to an 87%.  What?!  How could that be?!  She hadn't graded his thesis or his final exam the day before; had he done that poorly?!?!  I checked the grade book and saw the grade he'd gotten on his thesis.  1%.  When I clicked on it, I saw the note the teacher had left for him: he was supposed to have sent in his thesis with a Turn It In report.  Turn It In is a website that checks their work for plagiarism.  Without that report, the highest grade he can get is 1%.  Thankfully, his teacher was kind enough to let him submit the thesis to TII and email her the report, so that's what we did.  The actual grade she gave him is 100%, so that should bring his grade back up.  I'm glad I went in to check that; the semester ends on Wednesday and that's when the final grades go in.  It would have been the difference between getting an A and getting a B.

The rest of my day has been pretty ordinary.  I finished the laundry and put it away, watched an old episode of the Tonight Show, then cleaned up the kitchen.  I think I'm gonna go take a shower now and relax the rest of the night.  Maybe I'll even get some sleep :P.  I'm gonna need it - I'm babysitting tomorrow.  Board games, here we come!  Have a blessed night.

Tackling Tuesdays

I don't understand why people complain about Mondays so much.  Seems to me, Tuesdays are way more dramatic than Mondays.  Everyone's too tired on Mondays to start any trouble.  Tuesdays the energy level is back and the weekend is far off.  That's when I usually expect the unexpected.

Today was a less hectic day than we should have had, considering it's semester finals week.  We couldn't do any of the exams until after class, and his first class was at 10:00, so E didn't even get out of bed till 9:45 (I woke him up at 9:30 but he went back to sleep).  His first class was English: a review for their final.  The teacher explained everything that they could expect to see on the test, and was very thorough.  Afterwards was his leadership class, and that was pretty exciting.  The class read the book Of Beetles and Angels by Mawi Asgedom, and he was skype'd in to the class to talk to them.  That was so neat!  Like I told my son, he wouldn't have had that experience in public school.  The kids were able to ask questions, and be both inspired and encouraged by the wonderful stories he told.  My son also used this book when he did his book report for English.  I highly recommend this book, especially for teens.  Mawi Asgedom's story is incredible, and it teaches that with faith and perseverance anything is possible.

While my son listened to his classes I kept busy.  I cleaned the kitchen, swept the floors (I was amazed at how much dog hair was on the floor again), did a load of laundry, cleaned the hall bathroom and started lunch.  Today's menu was meatloaf patties with mashed potatoes.  Meatloaf patties are basically meatloaf that, rather than being baked in the oven, is made into patties and fried.  They look like Salisbury steaks but they taste like meatloaf.  My kids love meatloaf patties.  I prefer to make regular meatloaf because it's less of a mess, but to please them I made the patties.  As I was stirring the gravy, it bubbled and landed on my hand, on that flesh under the thumb.  It hurt so bad!!  I now have a blister there after hours of putting an ice pack on it because it was burning so bad.  I put aloe lotion on it too, to help it heal faster and to soothe it.  Cooking can be hazardous.

After lunch I had my son take his English final.  There were 24 questions: 21 multiple choice and 3 short essays.  There was a lot of reading comprehension questions but I think he did pretty well.  I say I think, because usually when he takes a test, the program will tell him how many of the multiple choice questions he got right, and he has to wait till the teacher checks the essay questions to get a final grade.  This time when he finished the test, he simply got a message that said, "Responses Saved."  Apparently the teacher set the exam so that she has to review it completely.  He's still waiting on his grade for his thesis.  His English teacher told the class she would work as quickly as possible but it would take some time to go through all the papers and get them graded.  So I don't know when E will get his grade, but for now, he's finished with 4 finals and has two left:  science and algebra.  The two hardest exams.  Lord help us.

When he was finally done I sat down to relax a bit, then decided I should go ahead and do my nails.  I took my old polish off, then remembered today is Tuesday.  Tuesdays are running days.  I knew the pastor that leads the group wouldn't be there; he's out of town at a conference.  I also hadn't heard from my running buddy, so I thought I'd just continue doing my nails.  I'd just finished painting them when my running buddy called.  It was 7:00, and she wanted to go out at 7:30.  I knew my nails would be dry by then, and I also knew E needed an extra half hour of school to finish off his day, so I told her we'd go.  I huffed and puffed on those nails till they were pretty much set, then changed into my running gear and we left.  We actually didn't run; we walked for 2 1/2 miles.  It was breezy out, which was good because it's also muggy.  I was glad I went.  I haven't been exercising as regularly as I should, and I really need to get back into a regular routine.  Right after finals.

I showered once we got home, then I checked to see if Shelbey had posted anything on her blog about a new Bare Minerals product I've been interested in called Complexion Rescue.  She had!  Since Shelbey works at a Bare Minerals retailer, she sometimes gets access to products before the public does.  She did a great review on this product.  It's a combination BB cream, CC cream, and tinted moisturizer.  So it gives some coverage while also being good for the skin.  I love this idea for days when I don't want to wear a lot of makeup but I also don't want to go out looking like a troll.  Complexion Rescue is supposed to be released in stores on January 22, but it looks like Ulta already has it.  I plan to wait till it's available on the Bare Minerals website.  The lotion costs $29, but I have a $10 off coupon from Bare Minerals, so I can get it for $19 if I order it from the website or purchase it from one of their boutiques/authorized dealers.  I'm willing to wait if it means getting a bargain!

My son R was feeling pretty bad again today.  Not sneezing, like before, nor even coughing so much.  His eyes, however, were red and swollen.  It looked to me like he'd popped some blood vessels from coughing so hard.  He texted me from work, saying that an eye doctor had stopped at the store, took one look at him and told him it's pink eye.  She wants to see him at her office tomorrow, but he has to be at work tomorrow at 9:45 am.  I don't know how he's gonna work that out, but if it is pink eye he needs to take care of it right away.  I really don't think he should be working, especially since he deals with the public, but the guy that is in charge of the liquor store is on sick leave, and the only other people that can work in the liquor store are my son and another lady.  I hope the store will be understanding and let him go see the doctor.

I guess that's it for today.  Hmm, now that I think about it, it wasn't such a dramatic day after all.  Well, except when I got burned.  I'll admit, I was pretty dramatic.  But it hurt, it really did!  I think I'll go get some rest now.  Good night and God bless.

Just Another Manic Monday

I'm usually glad when Mondays roll around, unlike most people.  I appreciate everyday that I wake up and I'm alive.  Unless there are semester finals.  I don't appreciate Mondays quite so much when finals are involved.

I got up later than I normally would (seems like I've been saying that a lot lately) because we went to bed after midnight.  A full day of activities, including concerts, can drain a body.  I made my son a bigger than usual breakfast because he didn't get to eat dinner last night.  We went out for lunch and he did eat, but in the excitement of the night he never mentioned being hungry (though if he was, he sat too far away from me to tell me so).  When we got home it was so late there was no way he was going to eat, so I knew he'd be hungry.  I got myself a bowl of cereal, then reached for my English muffins.  What did I find in the package, but a couple of bugs!  Eww!!  I was so mad - it was an unopened package and I had to throw it all away.  Ugh!  I'm gonna have to figure out if those bugs came from my pantry.  If so, I'm going on the warpath!

My son's schedule showed a full day of work:  an English quiz, Algebra final (in 3 parts), music history final, Hope final and an Algebra live lesson.  I was sure it was going to be as hectic as last week, and he was just as tired as I was, maybe even more so.  We didn't even get started with school till 10:30.  He went to do his Hope final, knowing full well he'd have to pause it at 11:00 for his algebra class, but I knew that wouldn't be a problem.  He got halfway through the test, then went on to his algebra review.  In the meantime, I folded 4 baskets of laundry, then made fried chicken tenders with stuffing and gravy, and corn.  After lunch he finished the exam.  He scored an 84% on his multiple choice; there are 2 short essays that still have to be graded.  I feel like he was distracted, because he has a 93% in that class.  I decided he should take a short break, then we'd review for his music history test.  We went through all his notes and read absolutely everything.  He got a 94% on that test, which I was pleased to see.  Three finals down, three to go!  His algebra teacher had sent an email saying the class was not to start on the algebra final till Wednesday after last review class, so the only thing left was English.  It was a vocabulary lesson with a quiz at the end.  He wasn't very excited about taking the quiz, especially when it was 18 questions long, but I told him it was best to just do it and finish for the day.  When he clicked on it, it said the teacher had dropped the assignment.  His school day was done, and he'd finished everything in 4 hours.  Seriously!  I told him to sit down and either read or watch a documentary; he chose option 2.  Honestly, we could have finished in the early afternoon, had he not started so late and dragged his feet throughout the day.  He's not getting off so easy tomorrow; there's a lot of studying to do for his science exam, and he's got 2 live lessons as well.

My son R was feeling a whole lot better today.  He took Robitussin last night and was able to get a good night's sleep, which he needed in order to recover his energy.  I was so glad, because if he didn't sound better today I was gonna have to send him to the doctor.  Can't be taking any chances with the flu season in full swing.

Speaking of seasons, our rainy season seems to have returned.  We got rain on and off today, though nowhere near what was forecast.  At least there were no thunderstorms.  Yesterday I did my hair, then got caught outside in all that rain and humidity.  I was able to seek cover, but the humidity still did a number on me.  My hair looks awful today.  It's like I haven't washed or styled it in a week.  So not fair.

There really isn't much else to report.  I'm gonna clean up the kitchen, take out some meat, then shower and watch some television.  Hopefully I'll get to bed early tonight and get caught up on my shuteye.  Have a blessed evening everyone.

Thoughtful Thursday - Is It Winter Yet?

We woke up to a chilly 55 degrees this morning.  Considering that our temperatures have been in the low 80's for the past couple of weeks, this is cold.  Compared to the rest of Florida, however, this is a heatwave.  Temperatures in the 30's and 40's for Central and North Florida, and we're only in the 50's?  That's kind of weird.  Or, as my kids would say, unfair.  My windows have been open all day and a cool breeze has made our home pleasant, except for the allergies.  My youngest son was sneezing up a storm this morning.  He's doing better now, praise the Lord, but I almost wondered if we'd be able to get any schoolwork done.

We actually accomplished a good chunk of work, meaning algebra.  That's what we worked on most of the day, reviewing and completing his unit 5 exam which was in 2 parts.  He actually did really well on the multiple choice: he has a 91% so far, and there's one answer the teacher has to check which could potentially give him a slightly higher grade.  Part 2 was emailed to the teacher so he's gonna have to wait till she grades it, but I think he did well on that too.  The only other thing he worked on was studying for his Hope DBA.  Hope is his physical education class; DBA's are discussion based assessments.  It's where the teacher calls him directly and asks him questions about what he's learned during the course.  He called in and left his teacher a message, but she didn't call back, probably because there are so many kids calling in for their DBA's.  I had him send an email with his phone number as well, in case she didn't understand his phone message since he tends to mumble (all my kids do; wonder where they got that from?).  He has his online Hope lesson tomorrow, plus he has to finish his English thesis and send it in.  It's actually complete, but he's waiting for his sister to review it and make any recommendations before he submits it.  It's one of the perks of having a sister who's an English tutor :-).

I took out some country-style ribs last night and put them in the crock pot this morning.  In case I've never mentioned it before, the crock pot is my favorite appliance of life.  Whoever came up with the crock pot is an absolute genius and should be president.  I mean, can it get any easier and more cost efficient?  I fill up my crock pot in the morning with most or all of the ingredients for the meal we're gonna eat in no more than 15 minutes.  I then set it, and walk away.  I can do whatever else needs to get done, even leave the house to run errands, and be assured that our meal will be perfect every time.  I've even set it at night (like a pot roast for instance) and in the morning the house smells divine.  And how much electricity does a crock pot use?  About the same as a standard light bulb.  I guarantee the oven isn't that energy efficient.  I've made chicken, turkey, beef, and pork in my crock pot, but it isn't just for meats and stews.  We made apple butter in the crock pot and it turned out amazing.  We also used it for hot chocolate on my daughter's birthday; it stayed warm all night and everyone enjoyed going back to it.  Country style ribs are so incredibly easy it's almost embarrassing.  Take 4 - 6 pounds of country style ribs (with or without bone, either works).  Salt and pepper them liberally, and place them in the crock pot.  Then in a bowl combine 1 bottle of chili sauce (I like Heinz but any will do; the bottle is about 12 ounces), 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, 2 tablespoons of Worchestershire sauce and half a cup of water.  Mix well and pour over the ribs.  Set it on low for 5-6 hours, then prepare yourself for tender deliciousness.  I served these with roasted potatoes and carrots.  They disappeared pretty quickly.

My son woke up feeling a bit better today.  I think he has a sinus cold because he says his chest isn't congested, just his head and nose.  Tylenol Sinus seems to be working for him, and I'm glad.  He's working from 5:00 till midnight tonight and there's nothing worse than working when you're sick.  

My daughter shared a story she read online.  She found it on Facebook.  Granted, it's from The Daily Mail, a tabloid from the UK that's notorious for printing not-so-true stories, but I think the information is pretty spot on.  I'd mentioned how I was trying different moisturizers because my skin is dry and the wrinkles under and around my eyes have been more pronounced lately.  Yes, I'm 51 years old and I should expect it.  But hey, I can also try to prevent it, right?  Well, the story is about a 42 year old woman who went to see her doctor about headaches and poor digestion.  Both her neurologist and nutritionist recommended the same thing:  drink more water.  According to the article, she started drinking 3 liters of water per day, and in 4 weeks she not only felt physically better (no more headaches and better digestion), but her wrinkles were gone, as were the dark circles under her eyes.  The pictures show a dramatic difference that could easily be photo-shopped, but the article does make sense.  All too often women think about moisturizing to hydrate the skin from the outside, but what about hydrating from the inside?  I have to admit, I don't drink nearly as much water as I should.  It's not that I don't like water; as a matter of fact it's my drink of choice.  I have one cup of coffee in the morning with my breakfast, then drink water anytime I'm thirsty.  Even when we go out to eat I have water with my meal instead of soda (though I do occasionally indulge in my favorite sugary drink, sweet tea).  My problem is the amount of water I drink, which usually is about 32 ounces a day.  That's half of what is recommended, and frankly, the recommendation falls short.  Why don't I drink more water?  I forget.  Plain and simple, I forget to drink water.  That's a lame excuse, I know.  So I've made it a point to keep a cup with me and try to drink 48 ounces in the morning and another 48 ounces at night.  I started building up my water intake a couple of days ago and already I'm seeing the effects:  I spend more time eliminating toxins from my body (read: I'm peeing more).  I do feel like my skin feels somewhat more hydrated but it's too soon to say how much.  I don't expect the results the woman in the Daily Mail article claims, but if I do get them that would be awesome!

At 5:00 I remembered that tomorrow is trash day, and there was lots of debris in the yard that needed to be picked up - specifically, palm fronds.  We have lots of palm trees in our yard.  Too many, in my opinion.  I like palm trees, they're beautiful and all, but the branches are enormous and have to be cut down to fit them into the trash can.  When I had the SUV I could pack them into the trunk and take them to the dump myself, but there's no way I'm gonna fill up my sedan with branches, twigs and dried up coconuts.  So I grabbed my gloves, my machete and the trash can and went to work cutting up and throwing away about 5 branches.  There's still 7 in the yard that didn't fit.  As I was working my son R came out to tell me he was leaving for work, and that E was on the phone with his teacher!  She'd called him just minutes after I went outside.  He says he did well, was able to answer the questions she asked, and that she didn't even ask all of the questions on the questionnaire, meaning he answered satisfactorily.  I was so glad that he could cross that off his list!  He'll be able to relax the rest of this week, but next week...that's a different story.  He's got semester finals for 5 classes next week, and no, he's not looking forward to them.  We'll probably be studying over the weekend to be sure he's up to speed on everything.  The good thing is, after next week he'll be off the 19th, 22nd and 23rd, so he'll have time to recuperate before the new semester starts on the 26th.  Mom will get some rest too.

I'm going to assume that's all the excitement for today (at least I hope it is!).  I'm gonna snack on some chocolate covered cookies, then shower and relax before bed.  Good night and God bless.

Wacky Wednesday

Why is today a Wacky Wednesday?  Because this morning the weather took a strange turn.  Yesterday it was in the 80's, hot and muggy.  Not overly muggy like in the summer, but after our run I felt stickier than I had the past month or so.  This morning when I got up it was 70 degrees, but the humidity was gone.  In its place was a cool breeze, cool enough to turn off the a/c and open the windows.  What's more, it's supposed to get down into the low 50's tonight after weeks of warm weather.  You just never know what to expect!

Our weather in South Florida has remained warmer than the rest of the state.  North Florida has freeze warnings in effect, and Central Florida has wind advisories.  My kids lament the fact that we don't have the different seasons like in other parts of the state, but I have no problem staying in the warmth.  I did the cold weather all my growing up years, and I have to say, I don't miss it.  I don't mind a little bit of cold; mid to upper 50's is fine with me.  The lowest I can accept is 49 degrees, and that's pushing it.  Not that I enjoy the heat and humidity; heat is fine, but humid weather I can do without.  I like it when it's warm and dry, and my hair looks fantastic.  Like today!

I woke up at 6:30 this morning, spent some time with The Lord, then got moving in the kitchen.  I remembered to take out some chicken tenders (yay!) so I got the crock pot out and started on my chicken taco chili.  This chili is loaded with beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, green pepper, and garlicky goodness.  It's healthy and tasty, and the best part is that I throw it all in the crock pot and walk away!  It takes 10 minutes to get all the ingredients in my slow cooker, 4 hours to cook, 5 minutes to shred the chicken, and before I can say, "Man that smells good!" our meal is ready :-).  I serve this with tortilla chips and nothing else.  It's a complete meal all in itself.

My son E spent the morning either on the computer listening to his classes or in the bathroom.  His colon was overly active today (yeah, I know, TMI.  Realities of life).  His music class is done, so all he had this morning was science and algebra.  Only his two most important classes :P.  E is really good at math, but he's not good at taking tests.  He gets overwhelmed really fast.  Science is a tricky subject: as in, the exams have lots of trick questions.  My son doesn't think in those terms; he's very black and white.  Multiple choice is fine with him, so long as there are 3 clearly wrong answers and one clearly correct one.  When there's 2 wrong answers and 2 possible answers, he gets exasperated.  The best thing he can do is be as prepared as possible, so that's what we're trying to do.

While he was doing science I did some cleaning and putting away laundry, then when algebra started I took a shower and washed my hair.  I knew that, with his tight schedule and Awana starting back up tonight, I might not have time to get myself ready.  While he ate lunch I did my makeup and dried my hair.  I've been considering whether to get my hair cut again or let it grow out some more.  My hair has been looking amazing.  It's responding really well to the OGX products.  I find that it doesn't get greasy as quickly as it used to, and when I dry it there's not a lot of frizz.  It also still has a lot of body the next day after I've slept on it.  Thanks to my amazing hair stylist, my hair is growing out beautifully.  It almost seems like a waste of great hair to get it cut.

Another thing I've noticed, is that I'm not taking nearly as long getting my makeup done, and it's looking better every time.  I think with all the products I got I was having a hard time deciding what to use, and I was going back and forth on whether to use this color or that, or this powder or the other.  I'm getting a good feel about how I want to look and the steps to achieve it, so makeup application is much smoother.  In all my experimenting I've found out things I never knew about myself.  For instance, I would never, ever purchase products with a peach undertone.  I was certain I needed pink undertones because that's what my mother uses and my skin is like hers.  Well, with some of the kits I've gotten from Bare Minerals there have been peachy tones, and I went ahead and gave them a try.  They work 100 times better on my skin than the pinks!  I made the erroneous assumption that whatever works for my mother must work for me because, hey, she's my mother.  The reality is, I have some olive in my skin which I inherited from my father.  I realized this when I got color-matched for foundation, and the color that works for me is medium beige, which is a neutral.  The pink foundation would have looked ridiculous on me, but the golden is too yellow.  I'm in between.  My daughter made the same mistake; she got medium beige because that's what I got.  When she went to Macy's with her dad to get her Christmas present, she got color-matched at the Bare Minerals boutique in the store.  She's a golden medium.  It works wonders for her rosacea because the yellow counteracts the redness in her skin.  Lesson learned:  always get color-matched.  Don't assume anything.

My oldest son texted me just after lunch.  He is so sick.  He's achy all over and has a fever.  Unfortunately he took Aleve, which he can only take every 8 hours, and the fever was back after 6.  I know he's a grown man (he'll be 28 years old in March), but he is still my baby, and knowing he's sick puts me in mom-mode.  Except when he's at work there's nothing I can do for him.  It's times like these I wish they were all little again and I could take care of them like a mommy should.  He got home and told me he'd taken ibuprofen.  I told him to get some rest, but he was sure he wouldn't be able to because he hadn't been able to fall asleep the night before thanks to the aches and pains in his body.  E and I left for church, and when I came home he was fast asleep on the recliner.  *Sigh*  When are they gonna accept that mama knows best?

Awana was great tonight.  I had a new girl join my group; her mom is a sweet friend of mine and I was excited to see her daughter moved up to T&T.  Unfortunately, most of my girls didn't come today.  There was the new girl and one other girl, and that was all for the third graders.  We joined the fourth grade girls and had book time with them.  After that it was our welcome back ice cream party!  The kids were so happy to get ice cream; I wonder if the parents were equally enthused about their precious little ones getting loaded with sugar?  Those kids will be bouncing off the walls for next few hours, LOL.

As we were leaving I noticed that it was cooler outside than when we'd left.  It's already 69 degrees.  It'll be interesting to see just how low our temperatures get tonight.  Guess it's time to break out the warm jammies ;-).  Good night, sleep tight.

Happy Day Before Christmas!

No more counting down days - it's hours away!  This month has been a whirlwind of activities and preparation, and now the big day is almost here!  I can feel the excitement in the air!

My day started off differently than I'd anticipated.  Which doesn't surprise me anymore.  I've come to accept the fact that I'm not really in control (though it hasn't yet stopped me from trying).  Last night one of my sweet neighbors sent over a flan, a dessert that I absolutely love, and hers is especially yummy.  After dinner I had me a nice slice.  It was all creamy goodness as always.  I went to sleep at 11:00.  At 2:00 I was awake and feeling sick to my stomach.  How is it I forgot that I'm lactose intolerant?!  It's not like those issues go away with the holidays!  I was awake for about an hour feeling nauseous, then dozed off and dreamed about being nauseous.  I wanted to sleep in but that wasn't going to be possible.  My cousin called last night and asked if I would watch her kids till 10:00 am so she could go to a doctor's appointment.  She was dropping the kids off around 8:00 so I had to be up before they got here.  That was my first indication that the planned schedule was not going to go as planned.

I got up, got dressed, and started breakfast.  The kids got here as I was starting to watch a new video Shelbey put up.  I hadn't had my breakfast, and neither had they.  Good thing their mom brought them cereal because one of the kids has severe allergies, and all 3 of them are picky eaters.  She said she'd be back by 10:00 but I doubted that very much.  Even on Christmas Eve, when everyone should want to go home early, doctors never get you out on time.  I was right.  She picked them up closer to noon.  To top it off, two of the kids have colds, and the youngest (he's 5) was coughing up a lung and complaining of a headache.  He really wanted to play, especially since I'd given him his belated birthday present, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle golf game, but he just didn't feel well.  His sister (she's 8) was also coughing quite a bit.  The middle child (he's 7) is the one with the allergies.  I thought he would be calm today since he'd taken his allergy medicine in the morning, but instead he was more active and cranky than usual.  I'd told them I had a lot of things to do but they demand lots of attention.  I tidied up the one bathroom and that was about all I could do, other than preparing the stuffing for the turkey.  By the time they left I was exhausted, and there was still plenty to get done.

I managed to get the turkey into the oven at 12:40.  I use the Alton Brown method:  brine the turkey the night before, then roast in the oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes (he does 500 degrees but that'll smoke up the house), then reduce to 325 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.  That would give me time to get myself ready for church.  Lunch was leftover stuffing and Tyson chicken tenders for me and my youngest son.  Both my older kids were at work; my daughter would be leaving directly from the office to the church service so neither would be home for lunch.  Something quick and simple was our best bet.

After lunch I showered and washed my hair.  I decided to do my makeup first, then blow dry and style my hair.  I'd just gotten my primer on when I heard something slam against the front door and Molly go berserk barking.  Who in the world was knocking that hard on the door?!  I went to see what was going on, and spotted a FedEx truck outside my door.  I wondered if it could be...but no, that wasn't possible.  It couldn't be my package from Bare Escentuals, because FedEx had already informed me yesterday that they didn't have the package.  "Surely it must be something R ordered," I thought.  I opened the door and the package was right in front.  I could not believe it.  It was my Bare Escentuals order.  The order I'd called about just the day before.  The package that FedEx supposedly never picked up.  The order that was cancelled and the charge reversed on my credit card, that was being duplicated at that very moment.  I opened the box to verify that I wasn't going crazy.  I wasn't.  My order was there, complete.  I immediately got on the phone and called Bare Escentuals to let them know my package had arrived and not to ship out the duplicate order, as it wasn't needed.  I asked for the lady I'd spoken to yesterday, but she's on another floor, so another lady asked if she could be of assistance.  I explained the whole situation to her, made it clear the error was on FedEx's part and not Bare Escentuals, and that they needn't ship out the second order.  There was a short pause, then the woman thanked me profusely for my honesty in letting them know that I had in fact received the first order.  I hadn't really thought about it, but FedEx never got a signature for the package they'd just delivered.  There was no proof the package had been received.  Of course that was something I couldn't do; I may be able to fool FedEx or Bare Escentuals, but I can't fool Jesus, and He's the one I answer to.  The woman put me on hold to figure out what could be done; she came back twice to let me know she was working on it.  Then she passed me through to the woman who had helped me yesterday.  When I told her that my package had arrived and that FedEx must have not scanned it (probably in the chaos of holiday shipments), she again thanked me for my honesty, told me she was so happy my order had arrived in time for Christmas, and since I had been so honest and patient through the whole thing, I was not going to be charged for the order.  Say What?!?!  This order totaled $116!  I had to ask again because I thought for sure I'd heard the wrong thing.  No no, there was no mistake.  Once the order was credited in their system it couldn't be rebilled, so this was their gift to me.  I was absolutely floored!  I proceeded to gush, not gonna lie, about their excellent customer service, their professionalism, and what a joy it was to deal with such an efficient company.  She was all gratitude and kindness.  I love the Bare Minerals line, the product is amazing, and after this experience I can say they have a customer for life!  Half the items in the package were products my daughter had ordered, and the other half were mine.  I got two gift bags out, separated and packed the products, then labeled each From: Bare Escentuals.  My daughter and I are both so thrilled to get this last minute Christmas gift!  I know it was a mix-up, but it wasn't Bare Escentuals mistake.  They had every right to bill me for the products, yet chose not to.  I know God had a hand in this, that this is a gift He is sending me, and my gratitude knows no bounds.  What a Christmas to remember!

Church service was beautiful.  Pastor Bob did a great job explaining the true Christmas story (with all the glory but none of the glam), and we rejoiced in seeing several people come forward on this special day to receive Christ as their Savior.  It never ceases to move me and bring tears to my eyes, knowing these people have made the best and most important decision of their lives, to follow Jesus and live for Him.  The service started at 5:00; it was so weird going in while it was still light outside, then coming out after service was done and it was dark.  It was pouring rain too.  It had been humid out when we first got there, but once the rain started the humidity shot up.  When I got home, I looked like I'd stuck my finger in an electric socket.  Ugh, frizzy hair!  I had to fix it as soon as I got home or else it would look like a something the cat coughed up for the rest of the week.   We're supposed to be getting more rain tomorrow as well.  Good thing we stay indoors for Christmas!

It was almost 7:00 when we got home, and E said his dad would be picking him up between 7 and 8, so I sliced up the turkey and got some stuffing for us to eat (since we were all starving).  The turkey turned out delicious.  Thanks again Alton Brown!  We watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special while we ate and talked; it was very relaxing.  E got a call from his dad, who was running late and wouldn't pick him up till 9.  So we started watching videos on youtube of "alternate" movie endings.  They were hilarious!  Finally his dad came to get him.  This is the sad part for me; we used to have big family Christmases, but that ended when J and I separated.  To be honest, I don't miss the gatherings.  Well, I should say, I don't miss what they've become.  When my older kids were little, getting the whole family together for Christmas was lots of fun.  There were a bunch of little kids, and we played games or watched movies or listened to music and danced.  We thoroughly enjoyed Christmas Eve and Christmas.  Then Christmas became a time of complaining.  My m-i-l is especially negative about anything and everything.  There never seemed to be anything good to say about anyone.  You could almost feel the joy being sucked out of the room.  I would try to change the subject but to no avail; I'd eventually end up in another part of the house watching television or chatting with someone, which got me the title of "anti-social" because I didn't want to join in on the complaint wagon.  That part of family Christmas I don't miss.  Having my son leave with his dad and not having him with me on Christmas Eve, that part I don't like.  But I understand that he wants to spend some time with his cousins (even though I know he would love staying home just as much).  My older kids don't go with their dad.  It's awkward for them to be around the family knowing they accept J's girlfriend.  These past 3 years have been difficult in that sense.  I am thankful to God that He has seen me through all the holidays and heartaches, and that He has given me peace. 

It's close to 11:00 now, and my internet is acting up. My son R is in his way home, and my youngest won't be here for a while. Besides, there'll be plenty to post about tomorrow! Good night, God bless, and Merry Christmas to all.