I am so Immature

A couple months ago, my MIL asked if I remembered a couple years ago, when the girls spent a few extra days with them without us. She wanted to do that again. Come on, twist my arm. I guess you can have the kids. (Whoopee!) So Tuesday we met the in-laws in Hays and sent the kids home with them, returning to our home quietly, without the "are we there yet?" whine. My husband talked to his mother the next day and their trip home wasn't as quiet. They ran into a thunderstorm, complete with big lightening, loud thunder, and hail. At one point they had to pull over and got stuck. My FIL had tried to manuever the van a bit too much and got mired in the mud at the side of the road. They had to wait an hour and a half for someone to push them out of the ditch. As a mother, I am sympathetic and concerned for the girls. This is so typical of the men in my life that I feel compelled to laugh. I also feel a little bit like a fifth grader, who wants to laugh behind my hand because it happened to someone besides me. Picture riding in a car with Jo with lightening and thunder crashing above. Jo hates thunder, she hates all loud noises. They are too much competition, I think. She wails at loud noises and covers her ears. The sound of a public, industrial strength toilet is too loud for her. I understand she suggested that they turn around and go back to get out of the storm. I have to laugh at this. It is so very much just like the girl. And I missed the frustration of dealing with her particularly strong will, when trying to get somewhere under less than ideal conditions. I should probably feel bad for the girls and their grandparents. Instead, I miss the girls and will be glad to see them later today but, I have gotten so much done for Bible School this week that I am just feeling pretty good about life. That and the house is pretty neat, no one has trashed it recently.

Gifts

On Sabbath, Pastor Joe preached on Romans 12 as part of his series from that chapter. As a side note, it is my absolute favorite chapter in the Bible. I memorized it as a teenager, under duress. I didn't hold that against it though and have come to have a great appreciation for the practical chapter.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[b]faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (Romans 12: 6-8)

One of the things that stuck out to me was that we cannot use our gifts as excuses for inaction. We are called to love the Lord through our actions in the body, and each part of the body has a vital function. We should encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to use their gifts, and always be wise stewards of the resources of the church. This is just the financial resources, but the physical resouces as well. If there is a skilled accountant in the church who is good at managing money, he or she would be a good canidate for managing the church finances. At least more so than the person (like me) who hates to balance my personal checkbook and isn't great at it.

I got to thinking about my gifts. It's not that I think I am not gifted, its just that I see many people who have the same gifts I do, and in a greater amount. I work in the church in many capacities, Christian Ed Committee, VBS Co-director, Social Committee, Nursery committee, help with juniors, calendar/newsletter, congregational secretary...so I am using my gifts. (It is a small church, which like a small town needs everyone to contribute) I just wouldn't say that the things I do couldn't be done by others and maybe better. I would say my gift is willingness. I am willing to be used in whatever capacity is needed. I have energy and a flexible schedule. It is as crowded as anyone else's schedule, it just has few time constraints than working people, at least now when the girls aren't in school.

Monday's episode of 7th Heaven, "Charity Begins at Home", begins with Reverend Camden preaching a sermon encouraging his congregation to use their gifts in service to at least one person, on a personal level. I thought it dovetailed nicely with my musings this week. It is an old episode, rerun on ABC Family each weeknight at 5. It never ceases to amaze me how God puts several hits on the same message before me at the same time. The point of the episode was to show that we should use our gifts in service to others and not just in a global or broad sense but on a personal individual level. My mom would have loved it. She is queen of the personal ministry. Can you take a meal to a lonely person or spend an hour visiting? Can you give a ride to a person who is without transportation. Make a phone call to a person who is having a rough week? Do a load of laundry for someone with a new baby or a broken washer? Take the kids for an afternoon or evening to let some busy parents have a break? Write a short note to someone who has meant something to you? It doesn't have to be a big time committment, it just needs to be something.

Go out and love the Lord through what you do today.

By Popular Demand

My sister had one complaint about this blog. I don't post often enough for her. I am guessing she is anxious for updates about the girls. I doubt however, that she will read this post for at least a week because she is headed to Florida for a week to pack up her house and move it to Texas, where she and BIL have been living for a couple months, since the Navy transferred him. My mom is going to help her so perhaps prayers for patience would be in order.

I will have to share pictures of Jo's hair cut. She. Cut. Out. Her. Barrettes. Yeah. The only really workable hairstyle is piggy tails. It's pretty bad.
Can you see the short feathery hair on the left side? She was pretty proud of herself until she realized Mama was not so happy.
"Jo, did you cut your hair?!!!" I asked horrified but the hair on the floor and the barrette in the bathroom, hair still clipped in it.

"Yes," she mumbled downcast. "I'm sorry that I did that" Really. Okay, well at least it gave her a career idea. She thinks she wants to be a painter and a barber now. She is really looking forward to preschool because she will get to paint there. Je painted a lot of pictures and Jo is anxious to do so too. I suppose barbers can make a good living. After my conversation about hair stylists today with my sisters, I think I will tell her to do that in Lawrence. It is more expensive than here.

I Won!

Forgive me for the self involved title but I so rarely win anything that I am a little crazy. I stuck by the Wildcats through I can't even tell you how many losing seasons and then football got good. I still am with the purple teams now that they have been struggling. I was always a Royals fan, I vividly remember the '85 series and the twenty plus seasons of drought since then. Seriously. My college roommate is from St. Louis. She is a Cardinal's fan. We had to agree to disagree. I seem to pick the teams that used to be great, or are great but not as great as the more popular team in the group I am with. So when I clicked over to Parent Blogger Network and it said that the winner of the $100 Spa Finder Gift Card was my entry I was so thrilled I can't even tell you. Yea Me! I now will return you to less bragger blogging.

Real Moms Have Messy Rooms

My room is usually a disaster. I watched my kids fall backwards on the bed in their new cowgirl hats and thought what a great picture! After I took it I noticed all the crap on the bed and the closet with the doors waiting to be replaced. Recently my mom, my biggest critic and one of my closest friends, told me that I didn't have a gift for housekeeping. No Joke. She tempered this criticism by telling me I do have a gift for mothering. I am doing something right! I'd rather be a good mother than have a clean house anyday.

"Enter the Real Mom Truths contest! The winner will receive this amazing 4G iPod Nano and Chocolate gift set, plus a link to their post on True Mom Confessions on Mother's Day. Today is the last day to enter. Go here to get info. You can win thisCheck out the true confessions of moms at this site. It'll make you think.

What Makes Me a Mother

They say biology makes a father but it takes a special heart to be a Daddy. Does motherhood work that way. Probably, but not to the same degree. I am a Mama because my three year old said so. My five year old needs to cuddle when her feelings are hurt, she has an owie or she is overcome with joy. Who does she look to then? Her mama. It amazes me that my patience (or lack thereof) was well documented before the kids were born. Shan was always the patient one, but now it seems I have a new reserve for all those annoying kid things. Jo asking the same question over and over again at the top volume she is capable of. BTW that is a loud level. It doesn't matter how you got the kids you have, adoption, foster, medical help or naturally, if you are responsible for these people you are a mother. It is endless hours of fixing food, answering questions, washing laundry and dirty faces. It is worrying, praying, and exhausting. It is the best job and sometimes the worst job in the world.

This is part of the What Makes a Mother contest sponsored by Parent Blogger Network and LightIris

WFMW Birthday Edition

When I first heard that Rocks in My Dryer was doing a birthday edition of Works for Me Wednesday, I didn't think I had any good birthday ideas, except get my sister to make the cake because she makes really interesting cakes for the kids birthdays. They are really cool looking and are fun. She makes some odd recipes for the cake part and sometimes they don't seem all that kid friendly. What happened to chocolate and white as kid birthday staples? I digress. As I thought more, I realized that I have a very inexpensive way to get gifts for those parties the kids are invited to. We have a great dollar store in town, Deals. It is a chain I think. When we have to find a gift for a birthday, I take the girls in there. The get to pick out several fun things for the special person and I put them in a gift bag. For younger kids, sometimes the number of gifts is the big deal rather than the money spent, and Deals has some nice things for a dollar a piece. I can usually find some really nice toys and trinkets for between $5 and $10. If the party has a theme, I will try to get gifts around the theme or add a small theme related item to the stash. Last time, Je was invited to a party for a boy in her preschool class that we don't know very well. I think the whole class was invited. One of Je's friends is the boy's aunt (dad was married before) and Je wanted to go see her friend at the party. The day before we made a trip to Deals, and bought a car, ball, an action figure, and a plane kit. I added a book I found based on the movie Cars, the party's theme, and the whole thing was pretty economical yet fun. This is especially good when you don't know the child very well and don't know what would be a great gift, and when you want to be thrifty. It works for me.

I'm Busy, Busy, Frightfully Busy, You've No Idea What I have to do!

I've learned that I need to get new dressy summer shoes. My feet almost have forgiven me for the shoes I wore on Sunday but not completely. I had to get a leg and foot massage from Shan last night so I could sleep. I wanted one on Sunday night but couldn't summon the energy to go down three sets of stairs to find him and ask. The cell phones weren't handy either to call to him down three flights. I had a day on Sunday. Saturday, too getting ready for Sunday. It is a brief lull now before the ramp up to Bible School next month. Saturday, I got the food and other things ready for lunch at church and Menninger's graduation ceremony. I also had to send food out to the Manhattan group for their Sunday evening get together. I also took the kids to the zoo on Saturday, because they were having a special thing at the hippo exibit. Jo likes hippos. On the way home from the zoo, I got the last of the stuff for Sunday's taco bar at church. We hosted the Manhattan group so I had to plan for an extra 20-25 people. I snuck out of lunch early to make my way downtown to the church we use to host the Menninger Bible Program graduation. This year we had 20 graduates complete the four year course through the Bible. It is quite an accomplishment. So we I got home at five on Sunday I was exhausted. I left the house at nine that morning to get to church so I could get things ready for the lunch, and still teach Sunday school. There were several extra people in our class, including the pastor and his wife who are working in Manhattan right now. I love them and they are great but with all the visitors in the class it was a little bit of pressure. Class, lunch and graduation were all a success. We had so many leftovers that we will do taco lunch again next month, we stuck everything in the freezer. After typing this all I think I need a nap.

Fashion Issues

I've learned that fashion designers have their heads up their butts. I went shopping in KC with a friend this weekend. We went to get Bible School supplies at this great store over there but she said we couldn't go to KC without going to Nordstrom's shoe department at Oak Park. Okay, twist my arm. We looked around at the clothes there and I was suprised to see all these empire waisted tops with full skirty things. The shirts mostly looked like maternity wear. On the flip side, I saw these pregnant women with tight stretchy shirts that proudly proclaim the baby bulge. It's like the world is turned upside down. When not pregnant clothes are loose and flowy with lots of room for a blossoming bump but pregnant clothes are shrinking so as to look like regular clothes stretched and pulled over said bump. What is up with that. Please don't think I am suggesting to pregnant women that they should wear clothing that hides the baby bump or is huge and flowy. Wear whatever you feel comfortable wearing. However, who wants to wear those empire wasted tops that are similar in cut to what my three year old wears. There is a difference between youthful and childish. Sheesh!

Works for Me Wednesday Cleaning Curtains

I am not a religious cleaner but when I do my bi-annual window cleaning, I do the curtains too. I take them off the rod and run them through the dryer for 10-15 minutes with a Bounce dryer sheet. I have used the housebrand in a pinch but the more expensive kind really works better. I rehang the curtains while they are still warm from the dryer. They are dust and wrinkle free. I have mostly valances and toppers but my mom has rental houses and has used it with drapes and sheers. The tumbling heat gets out the dust and wrinkles and the dryer sheet gets the odors. With some of her houses, renters have violated the no smoking no pets policies, and unless the smell is really bad the Bounce takes care of it. My home doesn't have those odors, but the dryer sheet smells good and freshens up dusty window dressings. It works for me.

Isn't that the truth

Today's Family Circus is scarily true of our society.

The comic shows the mom showing Dolly a Crucifix, and the caption is "I like seeing Jesus in the manger better."

Don't we sometimes like the Christmas Jesus more than the Easter Jesus. We don't want to think about His sacrifice and pain on our behalf.

Three Year Old Logic

"JE put me in there, but she was wrong, I was right" --JO

"Why were you right?" Me

"Because she was wrong"--JO


That makes sense when you are three, I guess.

Testimony Tuesday

Jules at Everyday Mommy linked to this post encouraging all Christian bloggers to share their testimonies on their blogs. It hit me that this was a fabulous opportunity to share what I have been working through over the past year.

For years, I have been reluctant to share my testimony because I didn't feel I had a good one. I have heard all these really dramatic stories of people coming to faith out of some pretty awful circumstances. At church conference a few years ago, I went to a women's lunch and the speaker shared her testimony, the journey from lesbian college proffessor, whose area of study was women's literature, and queer writing, living with her partner in a very settled lifestyle, to Christian, pastor's wife, mother.

In the face of that I got to thinking about my testimony. Instead of intimidating me, as I expected it got me thinking about what my testimony might be. According to Miriam Webster online dictionary, a testimony is "a public profession of religious experience" So, with that in mind, I decided that everyone's testimony is worth listening to, because the are the public profession of what God has done in my life.

I was born in a Christian home, with a rich heritage of faith. I read in our family reunion book about my great great grandfather who settled in Kansas in the mid 19th century. "He was a devoted member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in early childhood. He was always in his place at church. He was noted for his integrity, honesty, and uprightness...much cash was entrusted to him." This was taken from his obituary. While faithful church membership isn't necessarily a sign of faith, the fruit of his faith is played out in the children, and grandchildren.

I don't remember a time when I didn't know that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that I must commit myself to Him. I am still working through my ideas here, but I think that Christianity was presented not as something I should chose but as something that is just my life. I use a silly analogy, my parents never said, "If you go to college...", they always said, "When you go to college...". Even as a little girl I knew I would be going to college. I don't think I realized that I had an option, so by the time I did realize it, I didn't need to decide, I was going to college. I don't want anyone to think that my faith is as unthinking as my college attendance. It isn't. At some point, in middle school, it became more that what my parents passed on to me and it is wholy mine. I don't have a lightbulb moment which I can point to and say, "that is when I became a Christian". I remember one traumatic scene with my parents, when I threw myself on my bed, crying and wailing at the unfairness of life. I remember thinking no one loves me, but God niggled me, He loves me. I started to feel convicted about my earlier childish behavior, and wept my remorse, asking for His forgiveness, and "recommitting to Him". For me to recomitte to God, I believed that I had committed to Him previously. That happened before we moved to Topeka, so I had to be around 10 to 12.

I have always felt that my testimony isn't interesting enough to share. It is not a spectacular tale of radically changed heart. I believe now, that every testimony has merit, and that God works in each person. The blessing that I received from a godly heritage is as wonderful as the blessing a reformed crack abuser reaps. By the grace of God, I was spared that hellish existance. Exodus 20:4 says that God punishes to the 3rd and fourth generation of those who hate him, and shows love to a thousand generation who love Him and keep his commandments.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments."

I have never subscribed to the theory that every bad thing can be traced to a specific sin. However, bad things are a result of sin. Sometimes they are consequences. King David sinned with Bathsheba. In youth group we tallied up that of the 10 commandments, we could make a case for most of them being broken. God forgave David, even calling him, "a man after God's own heart"; yet David still faced consequences for his sin. The baby born of the adulterous affair died, and David's family was very dysfunctional. Sin has consequences that forgiveness may not wipe out.

Because of the heritage of faithfulness in my family, I was spared exposure to lifestyles that lead to painful consequences. God can use any testimony for His glory, even my undramatic one. So a testimony is the story of how God has worked and is working in your life. We should all be able to point to real ways in which God has worked and is working. For me, right now this post is an example; I want to share my faith, in a way that I wouldn't have felt comfortable about a couple years ago. I would have felt that I didn't have anything worth contributing, but as He has shown me, just because the work was less tangible, doesn't make it less real or less important. I didn't see Him working in my great grandfather's life, since he died before I was born. I can feel the effects, though in the options open to me and the choices I didn't have to face.

I Laughed Out Loud

My husband always calls them Rifle Droppers. Which I am ashamed to say I laugh at. Go visit Hillary's blog to read this commentary she posted from another blog. It is so funny I woke up people laughing. I visited there in high school and would love to go back sometime, but I am married to a man who thinks Canada is too foreign to visit. He sees no need to visit France or most other European countries for that matter.

Points to Ponder

Now maybe I have taken a long time last several years I have reached some important conclusions.

I always thought the people around me must have been born with some special knowledge that I lacked. Some inner ability to put on make up, flirt, socialize, study, know about the world, skating parties, boys, TV and all the secular areas of life. The only areas I felt confident in were those less valued by the world. Now, I am not suggesting that I valued them less, but this discrepancy made me feel like an outsider.

I blamed it on lots of things. My parents were weird. I was a Christian, I was the oldest child, I wasn't allowed to watch some stuff on TV, my mom didn't wear a lot of makeup, my mom didn't work so I didn't get to be a latchkey kid. Those were the things I blamed my lack of coolness factor on.

As I got older I stopped caring if I had a coolness factor. I had friends, family, a life I liked. It didn't really matter anymore.

Because it stopped mattering, I started to realize that I wasn't alone.

Insecurities kept me from feeling like I could be cool. It is easy for people to ignore you if you don't make the first move to be friends. I'm a sweet person, funny, attractive, interesting, and interested. If people get to know me, they usually like me, so my lack of popularity, wasn't because of some unlikable-ness, but because I was too insecure to let them see me and get to like me. This was a problem in places where I perceived I wasn't cool enough to fit in. Church and family gatherings excluded. Now at big church camp gatherings maybe.

This has been a slow awakening over the last decade. In the last several years, I assume I will get along with people and make friends so I usually do.

This is only relevant because, I think most people are walking around with insecurities that the try to hid from the people around them . I think we interpret those as standoffish-ness, rudeness, or other negatives rather than look beyond the behavior to the motivation. Of course I am an eternal optimist. The glass is always half full. Everything has a bright side and the cloud always has a silver lining.

I am sure there are those people out there who are confident through and through and never experience a moments doubt. I am not sure I want to meet them because the intimidate me.

Maybe we should worry less about how we stack up, look for opportunities to bring new people into our groups, and be thankful for our insecurities because they keep us humble and people worth knowing because of them.

Bargains Bargains Bargains

I've been in a bargain mood of late. I already blogged about my bed/bath redo, and the great deals I got on that project. Now again, my husband doesn't think going $250 over the original estimate is a great deal but he doesn't understand that one thing led to another and now the room looks better. He does like the new denim comforter however, and the shams met with his approval. The are very streamlined.

I returned from a grocery store trip having saved a ton of money and gotten something for free. I printed coupons off the KC Star website for pillsbury crescent rolls and cinamon rolls. The refrigerator kind. They are on sale this week so with my coupon it made them $.30 a can. It was for the small can of 4 but for the girls and I or just Shan that is enough. And on the crescents, that is enough to give us each one at dinner and that is probably as many as we should have for healthy eating. Pizza rolls are also on sale and I had coupons for those that made them free. FREE! I think the total for my groceries was $20 before coupons and $5 after. I got 14 cans of cinamon rolls, three boxes of pizza rolls, and 4-5 cans of crescents. I am well stocked.

Exploding Projects

It all started with a new mirror. Then two new mirrors. Finally a complete redecoration of the bathroom and partial redecoration of the bedroom. I was tired of fighting a foggy, spotty mirror to put on eyeliner. I had Christmas money waiting for a good cause. Aha! I would order a new mirror for our bathroom. Something that should have been done six years ago when we moved in. When the man came to measure it and give me an estimate, I had him give me an estimate for the hall bath. It also was in bad shape, just not as critical as the master bath. With a new mirror expected I decided that before it went up, the old wallpaper in that bathroom should come down. It is at least 10 years old, and it was starting to peel near the shower. I could see the 20 year old layer underneath it. I dreaded that project. The wallpaper in this house was all put up over one very thin layer of paint so it doesn't come off well, even with the good remover, and it takes the top layer of sheet rock with it in places. It was a huge project to get it all off. They had pulled the tank to wallpaper both layers behind the toilet, so we had to pull the tank to get it off. One of the bolts was corroded so it took a long time to get it off. With all the paper finally off, all the holes patched and sanded; I was ready to paint. I had a gallon of taupe that I got on clearance last year for $5 on a mixed tint table at Home Depot. It turned out to be a little greener than taupe. It is more pewter. It is okay since the bathroom is very light, it has a big window. Shan really likes it so I will deal with it. After I painted the walls I didn't like the antique brass and porcelain handles on the vanity. They were too frou frou for the new streamlined look. I know to go to Lowe's would cost about $6 a handle, so I looked on ebay. I found some brushed nickel, which match the rest of the bathroom fixtures, for $1 a handle and a flat rate of $6 shipping for however many I want. I decided to get enough to do both bathrooms so for $1.50 a handle I have a much nicer looking vanity. My mom had a border print from clearance. It actually goes pretty well. It has a tan background and then hearts and stars in an American Flag theme. With the blue towels and floor mats it looks pretty good. I inherited barely used bath mats and toilet lid cover from my mother, who had to get new ones to go with her recent redecorated bath and bedroom. I only had to get one mat to go in front of the toilet to keep feet warm in the winter on the cold tile first thing in the morning. Mom had enough to do the bedroom as well, since the border in there had matched the top layer of paper in the bathroom. So I took off the (again two layers) of border and then we had to paint a small strip at the ceiling, since the new border isn't as wide as the old border. We had painted the bedroom when we moved in and it still works so we left it alone. We didn't have any of that paint left so we used the darker paint from the bathroom. It actually looks pretty good. This led to a new comforter and pillow shams for the bed. Those were 11 years old so it was time they were retired. My mom called from Macy's sale, she'd found a denim comforter clearance for half of half. I then had an additional 20% off so it made the $300 Tommy Hilfiger comforter $65. The next day I was back with my sister, and found red denim pillow shams for $20 each and I had a $10 off $30 purchase so it made them $15 each. When I described this progression to my mother and sister, they thought it sounded logical and rational, even normal. My husband keeps shaking his head wondering how a new mirror project exploded.

Original Mirror estimate on just the master bath: $142
Redecorating Tally:

Mirrors: $233
Paint: $5
Wallpaper: $50
Comforter: $65
Shams: $30
Bath mat: $ 9
Handles: $20

Total Redo: $412

Yes it is a differnce of $270 dollars but bear in mind I hadn't orginally planned on a new mirror for the hall, it was a bargain when the guy said he would only charge us the cost of the mirror since it would be a snap to install and they would be here anyway. The wallpaper was a deal also and since I changed one I need to do both. I had been saving Christmas and Birthday money for a while to use for some worthy project and this seemed like a great idea. I also had been looking at new comforters and quilts in the catalogues longingly, since I bought the one we were using for Shannon, before we were married. It was actually a comforter cover for the down comforter I gave him for Christmas 12 years ago. In the summer we have been using a quilt that we got for our first house about 8 years ago, so it was looking pretty sad. Basically it was time for a redo. Of course, since paint is a pretty cheap redo I will probably do more painting somewhere in my house this year. We will have to see where.

Works for Me Wednesday Pot Rescue

I have often thought of what I could post for WFMW over at Rocks in My Dryer but until this week had no inspiration. I realize I am late to the party this week but if I wait until next week I'll forget my favorite kitchen clean-up secret. When I was in college, I burned something on the bottom of a pot when I was cooking. I can't remember what it was. My roommate's mother was visiting that week and she suggested a solution to cleaning the pot. She told me to put a little water in the pot, just enough to cover the bottom completely. Then she said put baking soda in the water and turn on the stove. When the water had all boiled away, I had a white crusty stuff that scraped easily off the bottom of the pot and took the burned on stuff with it. Then I could clean the pot as usual. I don't know how much baking soda to use, I just dump. I have used this recently to get the macaroni noodles and peas I let boil dry. Sometimes the baking soda doesn't quite get all the edges of the pot, but it loosens it enough that a little swipe with steel wool and the black crud is all gone. It works for me and saves my pots.

I Can't leave well enough alone

If I didn't have enough going on, we are getting new bathroom mirrors since I finally have had enough of the worn off silver backing in many spots. This prompted me to redecorate the master bath. So I started stripping wallpaper on Saturday. And to fit with the pattern of wallpaper in this house it was a huge job. Shan volunteered to help me when he saw how slowly it was going. I nearly fell off the stepstool. He hates those kind of projects. We ran out of wallpaper stripper so we had to finish last night. We still have a little behind the toilet but since Shan thinks we should take the tank off to do that it will have to wait till tonight. Today I will spackle and fill holes getting ready to paint. I will paint tonight or tomorrow and then rehang all the towel bars and medicine cabinet and the bathroom will be back in order. At least until I find a border print I like. Then I will have to do our bedroom too. And on and on and on. I am a glutton for punishment.

A Full Week

Last week was a big week at our house. We had a very busy schedule of appointments and other committments that kept me away from blogging. It started with a broken dishwasher on Monday that stayed broken till yesterday for want of a part and time in the repairman's schedule. Tuesday was a pretty regular day, but Wednesday was chaos in spades. I took Jo to the doctor to find out about this rashy thing I've been fighting for over a year. Turns out it is eczema and the doctor called it "the itch that rashes". Which I guess means she itches first, scratches and then gives herself a problem. After leaving the doctor I went to Walmart to get the prescription,(Yea! $4 prescriptions!) and a few odds and ends. I then had to hustle to drop off the girls and get gas before rushing to my dentist appointment. I go to the dentist in a little town about 30 + minutes from home so I was a little late. Fortunately the dentist was running late so he wasn't waiting on me. He filled my tooth and numbed I rushed home to wait for the appliance repairman. He came figured out he needed a part and ordered it. Then said he probably couldn't make it back until Monday since his Friday was already fairly booked. ARG! Thursday I watched a couple boys from babysitting co-op since their Mom had to go to the doctor. I dropped off my girls at my Mom's house, the boys at their house and rushed to a parent-teacher conference at preschool. I had to wait there because they were running behind.

Friday was Kindergarten Round Up for Je. Jo went to Meals on Wheels with my mom and we met for lunch. I am at once excited and apprehensive about sending my first child off to school. Jo will start preschool next year so that is another scary/fun conflict.

This week doesn't promise to be much better, we have a big weekend at church coming up and I need to get my house ready for company. Also, next week I start watching a friend's new baby full time for four months so she can go back to work. She works for the state tax people and hates to leave at such a busy time.