Monday, January 30, 2012

The Proposal





It's the stuff dreams are made of... The moment your child finds the person they will spend the rest of their life with. They both knew it was coming so the trick was to make the non-surprise a surprise.... Throw her off track by telling her not to make any plans next weekend. Paint pictures depicting moments they've shared together and have the tearoom (their
first date place) display the paintings.  Take her for a quick
cup of tea. Who knows, maybe she'll say yes..





A mushroom... When we first met

A cup of tea... First date

Watching old movies together....

How we get around....


The game we love to play....

The music we listen to...

The big question???

Get ready for the ride of your life because life is one big surprise!!!!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Freed

I'm the one who determines if my past will control my present,  if old fears will haunt my future and if memories long faded will be the nightmares to my dreams. Hands that twisted my ability to think clearly have no strength to torture my tomorrow unless I give them power. The strength that brought me out will be the strength that fuels me forward to a life that could not be held back by walls you sought to build. I reflect on the darkness you brought into my life and thank God for his grace which brought me out of the darkness into the light. Once freed, I determined I would never return to captivity, yours or anyone else's.... All these years later, that has never changed.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Heaven Only Knows

The feng shui of my week has been all feng shui'd up (don't bother it's another of my made-up sayings... Say it 10 times real fast and you'll get the gist of it). TGIF!!!! As if I needed a reminder of why I married my husband, he sends me the following email this afternoon.

"At lunch I cleaned the kitchen, made the bed, turned the roast and checked for potato stuff... We have milk, butter and one box of creamery butter mashed potatoes so after work I'll stop by and get another box of potatoes and we should be set..."

And that my friend is true love in it's most excellent form.... Everyday living. How exactly did I get so lucky??? Heaven only knows.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Am I Talking to the Wrong Person?

This morning I stopped by the bed on my way out of the house and asked my husband a crucial question.... "Does my bump look ok?" He peeks over the sheet with one eye open and says "Yeah." In rapid succession the following questions are fired out.

Me- You sure?

Him- (With eyes shut) Yeah.

Me- Would you tell me if it wasn't?

Him- (With eyes shut) Yeah.

Me- It's not too exaggerated?

Him- (With one eye open) No.

Me- Would you know if it was?

Him- (With eyes shut) Yeah.

Me- Am I probably talking to the wrong person about all of this?

Him-(With eyes shut) No.

Me- Okay, I love you.

The most important question was probably if I was talking to the wrong person, but who else was I going to ask, Morph the Cat? I just went with it, bless his heart.

It's Official and I couldn't Be More Excited

last night I spent the evening huddled in the most adorable little house in Bethany. My husband and I, along with about 50-75 close friends and family of my son and his fiance, gathered for a much awaited surprise engagement party. The question was being popped across town in a the little tea room of their first date. As soon as the deed was done, they were to go a friends house to break the good news. I stood there surrounded by a sea of twenty something adults, all beautiful and full of dreams and promise. I couldn't help but think to myself that my kids have been richly blessed and highly favored by being surrounded by wonderful friends. The big moment arrived as they walked in the door to oohs and awes, hugs and kisses and surprise visits from the parents of the happy couple.  To say it was heartwarming, touching and extremely sentimental is a gross understatement. And so a new chapter begins. I now have a whole new person to love, adore and spoil rotten in true Mother-in-law fashion. It was a blessed evening,  and a touching tribute to two people who have invested generously into the lives of others.

Luke 6:38
"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

The love that was shown in the house last night was nothing short of the results of living a life poured
out. I predict many blessings to follow, not only to the happy couple but to the friends and family who are fortunate enough to share in their lives. Congrats Kathleen and Seth, may your journey be full of laughter, many adventures and a love that not only last but continues to grow for eternity.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Send in the Clowns, There's Enough to Go Around

I've never been a big Obama fan, in fact there was a time (approximately 48 hours ago) when I actually believed I couldn't care less about him, but now I sit here finding that I actually can care less about him. That being stated, I really do like my doctor. I like him so much that I worked for him for 9 years. Working in a small office with someone is kind of like being married to them except you don't have to fix dinner for them or ask them to pick up their dirty underwear, because really, what doctor would leave his dirty underwear lying around the office... I just couldn't work for a guy who did that. I left the doctor's office because I just couldn't take the stress of having the government breathe down my neck and threatening to put my children into slavery if I miscoded a medicare claim or omitted something from a chart, or mistakenly spoke something in the office that was loud enough for a random person sitting 5 feet in the waiting room to hear.The consistency with which the government made up new obscure rules in various shades of gray so they could be interpreted to their benefit when questioned, was just staggering. Life is too short to live like that so I quit on great terms and with no hard feeling. I'm pretty sure the doctor would have liked to quit too but then he wouldn't be able to afford underwear that he could leave just lying around (I don't know for a fact that he actually does that, but I'm just saying there is a slim possibility that he does). So anyway, underwear
aside, I go in this week for my blood pressure/head problem check up. He's carrying this cute little computer around with him and sets it down on the counter. He tells me it's the new software mandated by the health care regulations passed by Obama. I'm guessing it's a kind of interactive thing that prompts doctors on things the computer (government)thinks a doctor should do with a particular patient if certain boxes are checked or, blah, blah, blah (in government speak). He's just about ready to send me on my way when a little box pops up on the screen and he explains to me in a non-threatening kind of way, that the computer is telling him that he should counsel me on my MBI (mass body index) and that he should (I can't remember the actual wording he used) but it wanted him to come up
with a treatment plan for my fatness (my words, not his). Then he just kind of blew the computer off, handed me my prescriptions, patted me on the back and said he would see me in a few months. He in no way tried to make me feel bad and probably thought he had mentioned the whole MBI in such an off handed way that I wouldn't ever notice it, and really I didn't until I got back to work and started thinking about the whole conversation and realized how he
had tried to cover up the subject because he thinks the government is as ridiculous as it really is, but the whole reason the subject came up was because the computer was upset that my MBI was higher than it should be which means I'm fat and the government wants to take away the peanut M&M's I have sitting on my desk that happened to be my breakfast this morning. Then it happens, the whole self loathing thing where I'm mad at everybody, embarrassed and was really really wishing I could run away from home and just spend 24 hours by myself and not have to talk to anyone or look at anyone. I went home from work fixed dinner for my family, strapped on my walking shoes, saddled up the horse and went for a 7 mile walk in the dark of night with the wind howling from the north. When I got home, my MBI was that same as when I left the house, my legs felt like they were going to fall off and my dog was really pissed.
That was on Monday. The week is half over and I'm just now pulling myself out of a pit because of a pop up on my doctor's computer screen. You know what? Obama can kiss my MBI! I'll eat M&M's when I want to, drink Dr. Pepper 10 even though it's made for men and may, out of sheer rebellion, leave my underwear laying around the office house. Go ahead Big Brother, send in the clowns if you want a piece of me because apparently there is enough to go around.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Lovely Mess

Hmm,once again I will demonstrate to you how to take a simple task and make it complicated. I really should start putting out a video series on these important little tasks, as I'm sure that not just anyone can take the mundane and turn it into catastrophe with the amount of consistency and style as I can. I know, I'm not one to
usually brag (except about well earned golf trophies (spoken in plural form by faith, or OSU stomping rival football teams into the ground), but there probably isn't anyone who will think my ego has grown terribly with this one confession. I was working hard this morning catching up from the holidays. I was getting a little hungry but didn't want to stop long enough for a snack so I popped a peppermint in my mouth. They are the super good kind that are big and melt in your mouth right before they disappear completely. I love them, but I needed more than one. They are really big so I thought I should crunch it up into smaller pieces so my mouth wouldn't be so full. God forbid someone should drop by my office and I be unable to chit the chat with them. I looked around my desk for something that would make a good crunching tool. I
couldn't use my stiletto tape dispenser, it wasn't sturdy enough, I didn't want to use
my pink bling stapler, some of the sparkle might fall off. I decided my high dollar body lotion bottle would probably make the best tool, so I lay the peppermint down on the desk and gave it two good slams. Initially I thought the melty goodness had
been squished out of the peppermint and splattered all over my desk, then I realized that no, my high dollar body lotion bottle had exploded sending sprinkles of my body lotion all over the place. Oh Fudge! On the bright side, my office has the lovely aroma of white chocolate laced with peppery wonder. Just another lovely mess.

The Bitter Sweet Taste of Change

Seth catches the garter
One of our boys got married this week. Not one of My boys, but one of the boys that feels like mine (does that make any sense at all). I was doing just fine until the music started and then the tears took over and the chill bumps ran up and
down my arms. How could it be that they are all grown up adults now,taking wives and having children? It's absolutely what you're shooting for when you
become a parent, to see your children grow into functioning adults, but then watching it actually happen, rips a tiny bit of your heart out. I had this sudden urge to stand up and shout "Stop! Let's rewind back a few
years when you were just a wee one and let me pinch your cheeks again." Yeah, that wouldn't be inappropriate at all at a friends wedding, so I sat there biting my tongue until I was pretty sure a steady stream of crimson blood was running down my chin, but no, it was just tears. Sweet, bitter, happy and sad tears, all at the same time. Life is truly a complex mixture of
all of the above and it leaves a salty taste on your lips as you
kiss the past goodbye and smile hopefully into the eyes of forever.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

The Best Way to Welcome a New Year

17 years ago on New Year's Day, we began a family tradition. Some friends of ours invited us over to eat and play games on New Year's Day. We both had children the same age, including babies that at the time were only a few months old. The day turned out to be one of the most pleasant holidays we had
ever had and we decided to make it a yearly event. That was 17 years ago. We rotate houses every year, but we never change the main purpose of the
day which is just to have raging fun for as many hours as we can stand. Our New Year's
Day get together is the one day that I know without a doubt that I will laugh until my stomach hurts. This year was no exception. We were missing a few faces but they were in our hearts as we laughed, shouted and occasionally snorted during the various games and stories that were told. It is the best way to welcome in a New Year.